Ecstatic Immolation
by Swordchucks
Summary: HPFD, post GoF. Abandoned. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.
1. Voices

**Summary: ** HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 1: Voices**

Fleur Delacour stumbled through the hedge maze blindly. She'd done badly in the earlier parts of the tournament and this, the third task, saw her starting at a disadvantage. The fact that the maze had been soaked by a brief downpour shortly before the Task started certainly didn't help matters. Cursing to herself in French, she raised her wand and was halfway through casting her direction-finding spell when she was interrupted.

"DUCK!" a voice cried, though it was not one she recognized. She instinctively dropped to the ground, and didn't have time to worry about who had warned her as a bolt of sickly orange energy impacted on the hedge just behind her. She cast about for a glimpse of her attacker and spotted Viktor Krum, moving jerkily in her direction with his wand held in an aggressive manner.

Silently cursing herself for not being more aware, Fleur rolled to the side, coming back to her feet at the end of the motion and casting a stunning hex at her attacker. He spotted her at the same time and returned fire, overlapping her cry of "_Stupefy_!" with his own cry of "_Expelliarmus_!"

The bolts of energy passed each other and both young casters were struck and flew backwards. Viktor rested, unconscious, in the corner between the muddy ground and one wall of the hedge maze. Fortunately for Fleur, Viktor had tried to disarm her rather than stun her, though it did send her wand flying off into the hedges and her slamming back into them. For a brief moment, it was all she could do to sit there, leaning against the hedge and resting on the soggy ground.

In that moment, her disjointed thoughts fixated on the cool slimy feel of the mud between her fingers. She would never have been in a position like this prior to this tournament, and she rather hoped that she never would be again. She knew that she was a vain girl, but she had lived so long being noticed only for her looks that she felt that it was, somehow, okay to be that way. However, after spending a few heated moments rolling in the muck, she would be hard pressed to claim that beauty. At that moment, she was just Fleur. There could be no pretenses of vanity maintained while she was huddled there, covered in mud and wearing torn robes.

"Get up! You must hurry. If Harry Potter takes the cup, all will be lost. The cup is a trap!" the now clearly male voice declared, snapping her from her reverie. This time, Fleur got the distinct feeling that she was the only one hearing it.

"'ello?" she asked, as she groaned to her feet. She didn't want to go on. She just wanted to sit down and wait for this whole ordeal to be over. "'oo are you?"

"No time. Hurry!" the voice repeated, sounding anxious. This time, Fleur could tell that the voice was more of a mental impression than actually spoken words. She knew a little about spells which would allow that, but the voice didn't sound familiar, and it shouldn't have been possible for someone to cast such a spell on her without her knowledge. However, whoever it was didn't appear to be hostile. If anything, the voice was urging her to do something positive.

Fleur shook the uncertainty from her head and cast about. "I don' 'ave my wand!" she declared, hoping that the voice had an idea for this or would decide to leave her alone. Without her wand, there was little chance of her making it to Harry, especially with his lead over her and the Viktor imposed break she'd just taken.

"No wand? Damnit. Alright, do this," he said and suddenly an image of three runes appeared in her mind. "See those? Draw them in the air and I'll tell you the incantation."

"Draw theem?" she asked. She'd done wand writing before, but that went back to the whole 'I don't have a wand' problem she was facing.

"Are you Veela or not? Conjure up a little flame and use it like ink. The fire and runes do most of the channeling for you so you don't need one of those silly sticks to do it. There's no time for this…" the voice trailed off, sounding frustrated.

Not even knowing why she trusted the voice, Fleur sighed and brought forth her Veela magic enough to produce a handful of flame. Full Veela could easily perform the feat, but Fleur found it quite difficult unless she was in a rage. Using the fire and working quickly, she traced first one, then two and three runes in the air. She'd never seen Veela fire hang in the air like that, but the blazing runes certainly showed that it was possible.

"Good, now the incantation. Repeat after me and try to keep an image of Harry in your mind as you do so," the voice said and proceeded to chant a half dozen short, squawking words into her mind. The words were in the ancient language of the Veela, though Fleur didn't think even the Veela really used it any longer.

"_Squa, ek, cak-ak, guo-uo, ak-uo, swek-rak_!" she chanted, finding the birdlike sounds difficult to manage, and with each word the runes blazed a little brighter before her. She kept her mind fixed as firmly as she could on Harry Potter, though it was difficult to do that and still mimic the chant.

As the last two words were said, she felt her body ripple. A change was taking effect as her Veela nature became dominant and flowed through her. Over the course of half a minute, she shrank and shifted forms until she had the body of a large silver falcon. Shrieking in surprise at the changes the spell had caused, she flapped her wings and took off. On the breeze, she could feel a subtle pull toward the one she sought and she sped toward it, riding the magic as much as the wind.

In the form of a falcon, Fleur felt like her mind had been divided almost in two. The two halves were able to communicate with each other, but only just. The active part of her mind followed the bird as it sought for its prey, but the rest of her had nothing to do but contemplate what she was doing.

Harry Potter. She'd known him only slightly for the last year and found him to be interesting. If he had been closer to her age, she might have tried to date him, but her original assessment of him being too young to compete still held true. She did admire his courage and what he'd done for Gabrielle. She didn't know many boys her age which would have risked their necks and the contest on something like that.

Under different circumstances, they might have been friends, but she didn't think he'd want to explore that possibility now that she'd been cold and dismissive to him for an entire year. Not to mention that she would be back in France in a few days, possibly never to see him again.

If they did meet again, maybe when he'd grown up a little, she'd probably make an advance on him. He was rumored to be rich, and she knew for a fact that he was famous and noble. Fortunately, he was also a half-blood and had been raised outside of the wizarding world, which meant that he might actually not have a problem with her mixed heritage. Part-Veela, unlike werewolves, vampires, and other hybrids, were generally welcomed in polite society, so long as they behaved themselves. That did not, however, mean that part-Veela were treated as equals. There was a knowing joke among purebloods that a part-Veela was a great shag, but you just didn't bring one home to your mother.

Fleur pushed away the thoughts that had somehow progressed from her not being interested to her marrying a twenty year old Harry Potter in a lavish spectacle, and she focused in a little on what was going on with her falcon-brain. Because the top of the hedge was warded, she was forced to skim just below the barrier near the tops of the walls. Even with this limitation, her height and speed evaded all but a few of the hazards and her nimble wings were sufficient to avoid the rest, making a joke of this so called 'challenge'. Even filtered through the "wall" in the middle of her mind, the feeling of winged flight was exhilarating, more liberating than anything she had experienced before. However, the magic required to fuel it was significant and she quickly found herself flagging.

Just as she felt like she wouldn't be able to go any farther, the maze ended and she spotted her prey and another human hobbling toward the cup. Screeching in warning, she dove at him, beating him with her wings. As the stunned boy tumbled away from her, falling on his back a bare ten feet from the plinth which held the Goblet of Fire, she landed on top of him, lost her concentration, and transformed back to normal much more quickly than she'd changed the first time.

Harry, either thinking himself under attack or that Fleur meant to take the cup for herself, struggled to push her away so that he or Cedric would be able to claim the prize. In her panic to keep him from touching it and the aftereffects of the spell she had been under, Fleur's tenuous grasp on English slipped even farther than normal and she found herself babbling disjointedly and mostly in French as she tried to keep Harry from escaping her grasp. He managed to get onto his back and seize her wrists in his hands, halfway to throwing her off of him.

Even though Harry was three years her junior and rather scrawny his that age, she knew that he was strong enough to eventually unseat the slender young woman atop him. The fact that both of them were coated in a slimy layer of slick mud didn't help that. Desperately, Fleur did the only thing she could think of that would buy her some time. She knew that Harry was a shy boy, and she knew that she had one weapon he would never be able to defeat.

She forced her body forward and planted a kiss firmly on Harry's lips. As their lips met, there was something, a spark or a crackle of electricity, that passed between the two of them and Harry went rigid in shock. This was all as Fleur expected, but then something she hadn't thought possible occurred. The sensation running through both of them seemed to intensify and pulse, almost as though it were a living thing worming its way into their very beings. Slowly, Harry began to relax, and Fleur found herself unable to draw away from the kiss.

Within a span of a minute, things changed dramatically. Fleur had thought to use the kiss as a weapon, but now she found that she desperately wanted it to continue. For his part, Harry had gone from being shocked to enjoying the situation. Thoughts of escape fled his young mind as he was mercilessly kissed and he started to kiss back with just as much vigor. The feeling rushing over their bodies was nothing short of magical, and their world seemed to disappear as they hungrily continued the kiss.

Fleur had kissed before. She'd kissed a lot before. However, the feeling she experienced with Harry was nothing like those other kisses. While he was kissing her, it was as if he was not kissing just her body, but the whole sum of her being. It was a kiss between two souls. If other kisses had thrown off sparks, then the kiss she was having with Harry was throwing off bonfires and was itself a raging inferno.

Harry had never kissed before, not that he could remember, at least. However, he made up for his lack of experience with enthusiasm and an almost instinctual regard for the feelings of the person he was sharing the kiss with.

How long they clung to each other in the mud, Harry had no clue, but Cedric eventually nudged the pair of them back to alertness. Without Harry's support, he'd landed in slime beside them, but hadn't really thought to move as he watched his two opponents frantically snogging in the mud. The pair blushed a deep crimson, but there had been something so very, very right about the kiss that made it hard to be too embarrassed. It had been like coming home.

"'Arry, you must not touch ze cup! It ez a trap," Fleur declared, her voice even more throaty than usual, and fished for Harry's wand in the muck before letting off red sparks with it. Surprisingly, Harry didn't seem offended that she'd touched his wand or that she'd used it without consulting him. Though it was a taboo, it didn't feel wrong at all for Fleur to do it. "Let uzz call for 'elp, inztead."

When help finally came, Fleur repeated her dire predictions and a few quick spells from the Headmaster himself confirmed that someone had turned the cup into a portkey. Working quickly, Dumbledore conscripted six Aurors and Mad-Eye Moody to accompany him as he followed the portkey to its conclusion to find out who or what was on the other end.

Not even realizing that they were doing it, Harry and Fleur clung together for comfort as they waited for the outcome of using the portkey to be discovered. Harry was more than a little terrified that he'd almost stumbled into a trap set by someone who might well have malicious intentions for him, though the presence of Fleur calmed him somewhat. Fleur, for her part, desperately pondered who might have sent her the warning message. She also wondered why she'd just gone and snogged Harry Potter, the boy she'd been telling herself was too young for her for months. More surprisingly, when she thought about it, her heart's only questions were of the "when can I do that again" variety.

After a tense half hour, the cup appeared again, though only Dumbledore and four of the Aurors held it. The grim look in their eyes said it all as they related the story to the Minister of Magic. Mad-Eye Moody, it seemed, had betrayed them, and the group had fought a running battle in a graveyard with a man that Professor Dumbledore declared to be Peter Pettigrew. There had been someone or something else there, as well, but it had been covered in a cloak and Peter had escaped with it after Moody had been killed.

It was a much subdued crowd that cheered when, after the portkey had been removed, Harry, Cedric, and Fleur took the cup jointly and ended the tournament. Fleur had not wanted to be included, but Harry insisted she join them and Cedric didn't protest. A little later, during the photo shoot with them holding the cup, Harry's free hand brushed Fleur's and their fingers laced together, almost of their own accord. Harry offered her a sheepish grin and she offered one in return. Even that brief contact made them both feel an odd tingle, which just heightened their confusion.

For his part, Harry was dreading going back to the Dursleys for yet another summer, but what he was dreading the most was being apart from Fleur. They'd known each other for less than a year and had only shared a single kiss, but Harry knew he was feeling for her in a way he'd never felt for anyone before. He didn't just want to be near her, he desperately needed her presence.

Unfortunately, while what had passed between them in the grimy maze was never far from either of their minds, it was a full two days before they could find time to be alone together after all of the press and victory celebrations. There had also been a number of questions but few answers.

Fleur still didn't understand where she'd had her cryptic warning from, though she managed to satisfy most of her questioners by professing ignorance but mentioning that her aunt was a noted Seer in France. It was true enough, but Fleur had a strong feeling that it had nothing to do with what she'd experienced. One of those that didn't believe her story was, of course, Albus Dumbledore. Mercifully, he refrained from pressing her too hard for the truth once it became clear that she would not provide a better answer.

Aside from those obligations she could not avoid, she said as little as she could to the press, especially when it concerned Harry Potter. A few of those with sharp eyes had noticed their brief exchange during the official awards ceremony, not to mention that they'd seen what happened on the field. The maze had been charmed so that spectators could see in, and she had to put up with quite a few veiled and not-so-veiled innuendos about it. She simply hoped that Harry was having it better than she was.

The odd events, including the mysterious voice, the strange Veela spell, and the magic of that first kiss, were all still mysteries to her, though her mother provided her with some insight on at least part of it. It was information that she both loved and dreaded, though she knew she would have to confirm the truth of it with Harry before she her hope and fear get out of hand.

The most positive thing to occur over those two days was the rescue of the real Alastor Moody from his trunk which did serve to lighten the sting of his supposed betrayal. The fact that an imposter had been teaching the students of Hogwarts the entire year didn't exactly raise public confidence in Dumbledore or the Auror corps, however.

Harry, for his part, was having a fairly bad time of things. Fudge was obstinate that the man seen in the graveyard could not have been Peter Pettigrew, which enraged both Harry and Dumbledore. Even with the testimony of four Aurors, the head of the Wizengamot, and the Boy-Who-Lived, it was not enough for Fudge to admit that there might have been a mistake in the matter of Sirius Black.

Fortunately, this fact did not go unnoticed by the press who smelled blood and started looking into the way Sirius Black had been handled in the courts. Some went so far as to demand that he be retried if he was captured, and there appeared to be at least some degree of public support behind it.

Harry was, by and large, greeted as a hero in Hogwarts upon his return. Cedric Diggory received much the same treatment, though he deferred to Fleur and Harry whenever he was asked about it. He declared that Harry was the real winner of the tournament, and Fleur the true hero since she'd saved both Harry and himself from an unknown fate.

When Harry and Fleur finally found a chance to meet again, it was a misty morning by the shore of the lake where the second task had been held.

"'Arry," Fleur began, but stopped, not certain of how to proceed.

He took her hand shyly and offered her a small but incredibly genuine smile. His eyes betrayed an odd mix of confidence and uncertainty that she found intriguing. The touch of his skin against hers was warm and welcome and she could almost feel the essence of him radiated towards her. It was an odd but quite enjoyable sensation.

"'Arry… I don't know how to tell you this… not really. I'm not certain that it is true, and… well… it's complicated," she said but stopped her fumbling explanation when she realized that he was staring at her, his mouth open and his eyes wide.

"Fleur… I just realized that for the last few days, I haven't been hearing your accent." he asked, confusion adding itself to the mix in his eyes.

Fleur blinked at him, not understanding. "My accent, 'Arry?"

"It's… I don't know how to describe it, Fleur. I think… I think you've still got the accent, but somehow… I just know what you mean. It's like I can pick up on your intentions and my brain patches in the spots which should be there but aren't," he said, still highly puzzled. He could distinctly hear her say the word "azzent" but his mind automatically substituted "accent" when he processed it. Something about the odd connection they shared appeared to be making such a translation possible.

"That is… not unexpected. 'Arry, you know that my grandmother is a Veela, correct?" When he nodded, she continued. "The children of Veela can have a lot of Veela traits, and it's an all or nothing kind of thing. Either a child is a part-Veela or she isn't. As the blood thins, female children become less and less likely to be part-Veela, but it's like a light switch. You're either one or you're not, and all of us are about the same," she said, but realized that she was rambling and took a deep breath to steady herself before pressing on.

"Anyway, one of the Veela traits is the potential, though it is rarely ever fulfilled to meet a soulmate. Pure Veela make the bonds much more often, but they are only with other Veela. The bonds of pure Veela are powerful though they do not compare to what a part-Veela can forge by bonding with a human. Such a thing is rare… very rare. There have been fewer than a dozen such Bondings recorded, but when they occur, they are for life and provide many benefits to both partners," she said, finding it difficult to string together so many words in English all at the same time. Even as fractured as her explanation was, however, she was easily understood by Harry.

"I think that we have the beginning of such a Bond," she finished, blushing.

As Fleur had always seemed to be so composed and poised, Harry was momentarily perplexed by her blush until he realized what she had just said. "You mean… you and I… together for the rest of our lives? Like, married?"

"More than married."

"More than married… us?"

"Yes."

"Do we have to do this?"

"Have to… no. We do not have to," Fleur said, with just a hint of sadness in her voice. "We can part here, 'Arry, if that is our wish."

Suddenly, Harry found himself wrapped up in a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. He was sitting there, talking to one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen and she was, essentially, asking him to marry her. Oddly enough, it wasn't the first time a girl had asked him, though the other times had been in letters from the sort of drooling "I see fame" fan-girls who didn't really mean it. This was as different from that as it could possibly be.

What did he feel for Fleur? Did he like her? Yes, he liked her, but was that enough? Then there was the connection that she was sharing with him. He had first experienced it in the maze and he felt it quite clearly now. It was something magical and real. Somehow, he felt like he'd lived his whole with only one hand, but now he had both. Touching her, feeling her nearby, just felt right. He wasn't afraid of the idea of spending his life with her, but the fact that he didn't feel fear about that was frightening in and of itself.

His fears and thoughts swirled for a few long minutes as they sat in silence, just looking at each other. Harry was surprised to notice that there was just a hint of fear in Fleur's eyes. Fear of the bond or fear of him rejecting her, he wasn't sure, but either way he, an inexperienced schoolboy, was unsettling one of the most sophisticated women he'd every laid eyes on. Slowly, he worked his way through the thoughts and came down to one final question. Could he say no and face the possibility of never being near Fleur again? In that moment, he knew what the answer had to be.

"No… I don't think that would be the right thing to do. This Bond… if it is so rare, then I think that we should probably explore it. How do we do that?" he asked, his mind going back to their last mind-blowing kiss and hoping that whatever the path forward held, a lot of that was included.

"It's pretty simple, really. We just need to declare our intentions to accept the Bond. Then… well, the stories about this aren't clear, but I think that we will spend some time asleep as the Bond finishes forming and then… well, we will never be apart again," she said, nervousness in her voice and a blush on her fair skin. "We might want to wait a while, though, before we do that. I mean, we barely know each other…"

Harry nodded his head slowly. "I know what you mean. Somehow, I feel like I've known you all my life, but at the same time… we've only talked a very little. I will gladly take on the Bond, though, when we're ready for it." He offered her a genuine smile and squeezed her hand a little tighter.

Fleur smiled back and nodded at his words. "I know how you feel. It is as though we are two halves of the same thing, but we should wait. You are still so young… too young for this type of thing, I suppose. I will wait for you…" she paused and blushed a little, "I'll wait on you till the world comes to an end, if need be. I will accept the Bond gladly when the time comes.

Fate, however, had different ideas for the young couple and as Fleur declared her intention to accept the bond at the right time, a warm green light blossomed out from the space between the two of them and their world disappeared.

… **BREAK …**

**Author's Notes: **Well, this started out as another attempt to break some writer's block, but I'm really starting to like this story. I find that I think a lot about "playing with clichés" and this story definitely falls into that. There are going to be a number of clichéd elements in this story, but I will always endeavor to make my takes on these elements unique and entertaining. Fleur and Harry will both be powerful in this story, but not off the scale.

Also, I want to cite _Hope_ by Jeconais as an influence on this story. I know that _Hope_ is a Harry/Gabrielle fic, but he has a few concepts about Veela that have certainly inspired me a little in this story. These influences will become more apparent in the next two chapters. _The Scorpion's Sting_ by Fledge is also a guilty contributor (though, oddly, I never read the prequel) on a couple of things (making Veela able to assume avian forms, for instance, though I won't be using the same mechanics). I'm not directly drawing from those two fics, but both are heavy inspirations.

Finally, a huge thank-you to my beta readers on this one (the Acting Artist and the one who wishes to remain nameless for now). Without them, this chapter would be half as long and a quarter as interesting.


	2. Cloistered

**Summary: **HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**Last Chapter: **Fleur's desperate plan nets her much more than she bargained for when she finds a connection with Harry that is only spoken of in legend. The two discuss the bond that they could share when they're overtaken by a flash of green light. Our story continues…

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 2: Cloistered**

The world was awash in the green light for what seemed like ages, though it may only have been seconds. Harry drifted in it the light, surrounded by its warmth and let his thoughts wander. Something had just happened that he, quite accurately, sensed would change his life forever.

Oddly, it seemed like most of the major changes in his life were accompanied by flashes of green light. This one appeared to be much more pleasant than the others, however, so maybe his luck was changing.

"I always pictured the Killing Curse as being cold," he mumbled to himself as he drifted, though he didn't know if his voice actually made a sound. He didn't recall feeling the curse when he was a child, but he'd always imagined it that way. He'd spent a fair amount of time thinking about that, through some of his rougher patches at Hogwarts and with the Dursleys. When his "family" had imprisoned him during the summer after his first year, he'd spent a remarkable about of time wondering if death at the age of eighteen months might not have been preferable to the waking nightmare he was living.

Of course, that was before his best friends, the Dementors, had brought those repressed memories into horrid clarity. That green light was so vibrant had been interesting in a morbid sort of way. However, he could certainly have done without hearing his mother's final moments over and over again.

Eventually, when the green warmth faded, Harry began to regain feeling in his body. The first sensation to return was the feeling in his fingers, though it quickly surged from there over the rest of his body. The first thing his fingertips told him is that the surface beneath him was granular but soft and cushioning. As his vision became more distinct, the world resolved itself into a clear blue sky. He lay there for a while, not quite certain what had happened, but with a pleasant lethargy in his muscles that made him want to keep his position for just a moment longer.

"What just happened?" a voice asked, and he realized with some amusement that it was his. When a feminine groan answered, he decided that he'd had enough of a lie-down and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He was resting on the sandy shore of a lake which looked quite similar to the lake at Hogwarts, though the beach he was on was far more comfortable than the stony shores surrounding that Scottish body of water.

In the distance, he spotted Hogwarts, looking as impressive as ever, and the expansive grounds. Everything was flush with early summer's warmth and somewhere there were birds singing. Closer, he saw Fleur resting on the sandy shore and his breath caught in his throat as he took in her radiant form.

As he stared at her, transfixed, his mind kept playing over the conversation they'd had just before the light had taken then. They were or would be "more than married" by some ancient magic. For a boy whose romantic experiences had so far accounted for one disastrous sort-of-date to a Yule Ball, that was a pretty monumental thing. As he watched, she slowly rose, just as he had before, her pretty hands rubbing across her eyes as though to wipe away sleep.

"I think that I just learned an important lesson about the nature of magic and bonds," Fleur muttered in a grim tone, eliciting a questioning look from Harry. She shook her golden blond hair, causing Harry's lips to suddenly grow dry as the platinum strands caught the light and framed her face in a moment of unearthly beauty. She was beautiful, which appealed to him on one level, but terrified him on many more.

Harry did not respond as she rose from where she'd also been resting on the ground. She offered him her hand, and he stared at it dumbly for a moment before realizing what she'd indicated. Swallowing his fear, he placed his calloused hand in hers and felt a tingle rush up his arm they touched once more. It felt pleasant and familiar. Comforting and pushing his fear down.

"I tried to say that I accepted the bond but not just yet… but in my heart, I had already accepted it," Fleur continued, with a faint blush which caused something to stir deep in Harry's chest. "I believe that the Bond took my partial declaration as sufficient and activated."

Words seemed to worm their way through the haze into which Harry found himself and he blinked. "Why would that happen? Shouldn't you have to, you know, actually say what you're supposed to say to get it to work?" For a moment he forgot Fleur's beauty, at least to the extent that he'd ever be able to forget that, and was genuinely curious.

Fleur gave him a strange look, but it faded quickly, "I forget that you have not finished your schooling yet, 'arry," she said with just a touch of her accent still bleeding through the odd translation the Bond performed. While Harry felt a little embarrassed that he didn't understand whatever concept was being discussed, the tingle that her throaty accent gave him softened the blow considerably. A vicious part of his mind realized that she had just thought him immature, though she had glossed over it.

Heedless of his internal turmoil, the Veela pressed on. "Intent is the most important part of anything, when magic is involved. It is why you can cast spells without the words or the wand movements if you can summon up the intent to do so without them. With those of us with Veela blood, it's even truer than with most as Veela magic is done without wands. You would cover this in a couple of years, most likely," she finished and again that monster inside Harry reminded him that he was just a little boy in her eyes.

Harry quashed those thoughts and nodded, understanding a little of what she meant about intent. He'd seen the Veela fling fire at the World Cup and it hadn't looked like they were casting spells. It followed that magical creatures didn't have to follow all the same rules as wizards and witches. Maybe wizards and witches didn't really have to follow those rules, either, though it must be difficult or else everyone would do things that way.

He looked around and realized that they were on the shore of the lake by Hogwarts, but the castle itself looked a little different. The sky, also, was a beautiful shade of bluish purple which it didn't normally have. "That doesn't explain what happened, though. Why did the… our Bond bring us here?" he asked, blushing as he placed some ownership on the Bond. His internal doubts again pulled at him, asking him what right he had to place a claim in that manner.

"We are in the," Fleur began but paused, trying to find the right words. "The place that the newly Bonded go to complete the process. It is mentioned in passing in the old texts, but not much is written about it. All that is said is that once the Bond is made, the," here she paused again and looked for a word, "the partners vanish for a time. When they come back, they are much changed."

"So… do you suppose that we're alone here?" he asked, painfully aware of how close the tall blond girl was to him and the internal war that her presence was causing within him. He wanted nothing more than to pull her lips down to his and snog her senseless, but the thought of doing that, while enticing, almost killed him with embarrassment and self-doubt.

"Maybe. I don't know. These Bonds are so rare that there are few records of them, and this is the part that the previous Bonded generally failed to speak of. Right now, however, we have something much more important that we must address," she said and turned to face him. She was blushing again and Harry couldn't help but think that it made her look unbelievable. He sparkling blue eyes stared deep into his and his lips were suddenly painfully dry. When she spoke again, her voice had dropped a few octaves and sounded even more throaty than normal. "If you don't kiss me within the next minute, I will throw you into the lake."

Laughing nervously, Harry reached up and slid his fingers through her perfect hair. His hand rested gently on the back of her head as his other found its way to her waist and he pulled her toward him. As her head bent down, he was slightly annoyed that she was so much taller than him, but his annoyance vanished when their lips met and something just as magical as what had happened in the Third Task happened. Harry had never been one for romance novels, which were Hermione's secret vice, but he knew enough about kissing to know that something far beyond just physical attraction and emotions were involved in this one. It was as though his soul was rushing into Fleur's soul and hers back into his with their lips as the conduit.

The feeling was absolutely intoxicating, but it broke after a moment. Physically, the kiss itself had been a chaste one, somewhat dry and awkward, but emotionally it had been much more intense than any kiss had a right to be. Some of Harry's doubts fell away in that instant, though he was still quite nervous about looking like a fool in front of the much more experienced girl. Somewhere in the midst of that short kiss, their knees had grown week and when they finally came to their senses, they were resting on the sandy shore again, only touching lightly with their outstretched hands. Harry absently noted that the sand did not cling to them or abrade them as sand is often prone to do. It was as though the sand were an idealized echo of real sand that had been placed there specifically for their comfort.

Harry was interrupted from his musings as Fleur grabbed his hand more firmly and rolled to her feet, dragging him with her and pulling him into the shallows of the lake. The water was pleasantly warm, but Harry still yelped in surprise until he got his bearings and the two of them splashed and frolicked for a while before trudging their way up to the castle.

In this place, things seemed real, but only to a certain extent. The sky was blue, but it wasn't exactly the right blue. The water was warm, but it was too warm for a Scottish lake, even in the summer, and they seemed to dry out far faster than they should have after they got out of the water. Harry filed these little differences away in the back of his mind and, more or less, dismissed them as the product of magic.

Magic was like that.

… **BREAK …**

Inside the castle, they found the place to be similar but dissimilar to the real Hogwarts. While they looked the same on the outside, this version did not have as many interior rooms as the real one. The great hall was still there, of course, as was the entry way, but the passageways and corridors that Harry never traveled were simply not there. The distances between points had also been shortened, which made getting around easier. Also, while there were still portraits on the walls, they did not move or talk. It made the castle a lot quieter, though Harry couldn't say that he was displeased with it.

They spent a while exploring the rearranged castle and eventually found their way to the Gryffindor common room. The girls' and boys' staircase had been removed, replaced with a single stair going downward in the middle. When Harry and Fleur followed it, they found a few interesting rooms at the end of a short corridor, including a bedroom with two large beds and a study.

On a podium in the middle of the study, a softly glowing book rested. Somehow drawn to it, Harry and Fleur approached it and touched the plain cover. As their fingers brushed it, the book sprang open and words started to appear on the first page, just as Harry had seen with the diary in his second year. Harry forced himself not to recoil as the book's method of communication called back old memories and instead read what it was "saying". Because of the pace of the writing, it felt natural to recite the words along with the book.

"Welcome, Bonded. This book was prepared by Markus and Devella, about six thousand years ago. We were not the first of the Bonded, as we had Mentors, but we were the first to leave behind a record. Before you leave this place, you will be expected to add anything to it that you feel needs to be added. You may wonder where you are, as did we when we first appeared in a world such as this. This place you find yourselves in is a dream world of sorts between the realms of the living and the dead. It exists as a bubble, not fully in either place, but touched by both. No one knows why these worlds appear, whether it be from the force of the Bond or a boon from some long forgotten god, but they do so whenever they are needed. Obviously, one is needed now or you would not be here," the book went on as Harry paused for breath. He looked at Fleur and realized she was listening to him rather than watching the book. He blushed a little and went on with the reading, though he stumbled over more words than he really should have.

"Here, you will be met by your Mentors. Your Mentors will be drawn to you after you have been here for a while. Your chosen Mentor is often someone closely matched to your personality or ancestry. Without fail, the task of Mentor is filled by a Bonded couple who have passed into the realm of death. Do not fear them, for they will help you to learn more about what you are and how you are joined. However, you must remember that all Bonded couples are different, and that your Mentors have only their own experiences and those of their Mentors to draw upon. You may ask questions by writing them here and if this book knows the answers, it will respond," Harry finished as the last words came into being on the page.

"Mentors… I wonder who we will get," he muttered to himself. Fleur took his hand gently with her left hand as she lifted the quill from the podium and penned a question about how they would find food. The book responded that food was unnecessary in this place, though they could will it to appear if they desired to eat.

They asked a few more questions and found that this place they were in was like one big Room of Requirement. If they wanted something, they simply had to think about it hard enough and walk to a place where it could reasonably appear. Fleur tested this out by walking to their bedroom and coming back with a bowl of fresh strawberries. She ate one and Harry almost passed out as his bloodflow did something he was quite unaccustomed to. As the book was queried, it indicated that they would, in fact, be experiencing emotional instability for a while, particularly when the emotions were toward each other. It was a side effect of the Bond.

The spent a while playing with the book, asking every question they could think of and getting more than a few interesting answers. Insofar as the authors of the book had known, their purpose in the dream world until their Mentors arrived was for them to grow comfortable with each other. When they'd finished with the book, they relaxed in the common room for a while, seated awkwardly far apart on one of the couches and chatted nervously about themselves.

Eventually, they grew weary and retired for the night, each a little embarrassed at sharing a room, but still quite happy with the arrangements.

… **BREAK …**

The next week in the dream world passed in a happy blur. The young Bonded couple explored in the castle, frolicked on the grounds, and generally got to know each other mentally. The two of them spent countless small touches and chaste kisses, though neither of them seemed to have the inclination or courage to go farther than that. They talked about their childhoods, though Harry took a long time to open up about his; their current lives; and their hopes for the future. Naturally, now, those hopes all included each other, a fact which contained an odd mix of certainty and uncertainty for both of them.

The language barrier, which was virtually non-existent even before they entered the dream world, completely dissolved as the force of the Bond connecting them grew. With a little bit of time, Harry realized that Fleur's English had become every bit as good as his, though she still called him 'Arry. He rather liked the way she said it in her deep voice and made no move to correct her. His learning of French was every bit as painless as the perfection of her English and took all of three days. Now, they could communicate in either of their native languages, but more importantly, Harry found that whispering into Fleur's ear in French would make her blush a bright red that he quite enjoyed.

For all that Fleur was a beautiful half-Veela, Harry found that she was quite inexperienced in some things. She admitted to kissing more than a few boys, but protested that it had never been more than that. This surprised Harry a little, and he failed to think before blurting out, "I thought Veela had… well, a reputation."

Fleur snorted, though she was blushing brightly as well, "I know of the reputation. It is the cause of most of my teenage problems," she finished with a mutter, though she was not angry. "I have told you of the legend of the Bond, yes? Well, there are two parts to that legend. If a part-Veela kisses a man, and they are meant to be together in a Bond, then they will know immediately. However, forging the bond requires that the part-Veela be… well, that she is a virgin. If she is not, then she will know that she could have had the Bond, feel its power, but know that it can never be hers. There are legends that say that such a partial Bond can only lead to insanity and death."

Fleur stopped talking for a minute and held Harry's hand tightly. "That is why I we will be learning such things together, in time. Part-Veela have a reputation because we kiss many men, but we are very faithful once we have settled on a mate. To stray might, however unlikely, be fatal to us."

Harry kissed Fleur gently on her forehead. "I can handle that," he admitted with a blush. "I kind of like that we'll be in it together."

After that, things became even more relaxed between the two of them. Harry was no longer feeling quite so intimidated with Fleur's prior experience and his lack thereof, and she appeared to respect the fact that he was not pushing her. Of course, not all good things could continue. That's not to say that one good thing couldn't segue into another good thing, though.

… **BREAK …**

"Excuse me, I hope I'm not interrupting something," said a deep voice, causing the two of them to break apart from a heated but still quite innocent kiss while sitting on the professor's table in the Great Hall. Harry fumbled for his wand while Fleur conjured up a small but deadly ball of Veela fire. Neither had been expecting a guest, though given the warnings of the book, they probably should have.

The hooded figure took a look at their fumbling preparation for attack and laughed loudly. Though Harry had had a number of bad experiences involving maniacal laughter, this laugh was warm and friendly, and put him at his ease. He lowered his wand, though he did keep his eyes on the stranger. Fleur still looked ready to remove his eyebrows at a moment's notice, though whether that was from embarrassment or because she'd been enjoying what he interrupted, Harry didn't know.

After a moment, the laughter ended and the man said, "Didn't you guys find the book? It should have warned you that you'd have Mentors coming."

Harry nodded, "We found it, but we were… umm… a little distracted," he finished lamely, blushing again. He put his wand away, though within easy reach should he need it again.

"I'd say," he said as he pushed his hood back, revealing a long mane of jet black hair and dazzling green eyes. He was a tall man, taller than Fleur by a full head, and broad at the shoulders. Had he not been smiling so brightly, he might have looked imposing. "Of course, I'm one to talk. I'm sure my Mentor had to bang on our door for half an hour before we acknowledged him," he finished with a knowing grin.

Harry decided to take the lead. The book had indicated that the Mentors would come to them, so he had no reason not to trust this man. "I'm Harry James Potter," Harry said, stepping forward and offering his hand which the stranger took to give a firm shake.

By that point, Fleur had regained her composure, let her ball of fire vanish, and offered the stranger a slight curtsey. "Fleur Marie Delacour," she introduced, though her tone was not as warm as Harry's.

Harry leaned close to her and said in a soft voice, not really caring if he was overheard, "I didn't know your name was Marie."

For some reason, this caused the visitor to laugh once more and when he finally calmed down, he gave them both a bow and declared, "And I am Jovan Arcturas Gryffindor, fourth son of Godric and," he gave Harry a warm smile and looked him deep in the eye, "Your distant ancestor."

It really wasn't very manly of Harry to faint at that point, but he did it anyway.

… **BREAK …**

When Harry awoke, the group had retired to the Gryffindor common room and Fleur was running her hands through his hair as he rested with his head in her lap.

"…the one who woke me up and warned me about the trap on the Cup!" she was exclaiming as Harry slowly drifted into consciousness.

Jovan chuckled and nodded, his eyes sparkling with barely concealed mirth. "I saw a chance to make two people very happy and avoid some nasty things which might have happened, so I took it. I wasn't really supposed to do that… but I take it that you two have no complaints?"

"But why… how did you know that was going to happen?" she asked, her fingers resuming their hypnotic movements. Harry stayed quiet, content to be stroked and to listen in on the conversation.

"When you are dead, you tend to have a lot of time on your hands. I've spent a great deal of it over the last eight hundred years looking in on my descendants and, well, I only have Harry here left, so I got to watch him pretty closely. Dead people build up energy of a sort, too, and we can sometimes communicate with the living for short bursts if we don't mind depleting it. To be honest, most of the dearly departed hoard it and hoard it until there's no reason to spend it, which is why you don't hear more dead people talking to the living. I decided that keeping the last of my bloodline alive a bit longer was well worth the effort," he said and chuckled again.

Harry decided that revealing himself to be awake was a prudent and shifted, sliding up beside Fleur. He was a little disappointed when the rubbing stopped, but he contented himself with looping an arm lightly around her shoulders. "Thank you for that. I don't… well, there's a lot that I might not have right now if it wasn't for that," he said with a blush, though Fleur tilted her head over to rest against his affectionately. "How is it that you're here? For that matter, where is 'here', anyway? We read the book, but… well, I mean…"

Jovan laughed again. "I told you my name was Jovan Arcturas Gryffindor, and that is the truth. What I didn't tell you is that I, like you, entered into a Bond with a part-Veela. Her name is Gadralla and she'll be along in a bit. We thought it best that I be the one to make the introductions and all that," he said, digressing a little from the topic at hand. "Anyway, this is a half-place between the worlds of the living and the dead. It's created when you enter into the Bond and will last as long as it needs to for the Bond to cement itself. The one between Gadralla and I held together for about thirty months. Thirty months to our perceptions, that is. When we left that place, we found that only twelve weeks had passed in the real world. The Bonded who were our mentors said their world lasted almost fourty months and reality advanced only six weeks, so it varies somewhat"

"This place is accessible to other Bonded who are compatible with the two of you in some way. We're able to come and go from this place in order to guide you and teach you what you might need to learn before you go back to the real world. We benefit from those nifty translations features of this place, as well, which is why I haven't used the word "forsooth" once today. When the two of you pass on to the next life, you will likely be able to enter places like this and guide new Bonded, if you so desire. Call it a little something to look forward to," he said with a smile.

"Why I, specifically, am here is that I wanted a chance to see my great-great-something grandson," he said with a grin. When Harry's expression didn't change, he leaned forward and said in a stage whisper, "In case you can't tell, that's you, Harry."

Harry blinked several times before he sputtered out the question that had been trying to form itself in his head ever since he'd passed out before. "I'm descended from Godric Gryffindor?"

"Yeah, a little bit. You're probably the last direct descendant, though us Gryffindors have never put too much stock by bloodlines and I've only keep track of my own line of descent, not that of my siblings. There are a couple of squibs in your family tree which would explain why your branch of the family didn't get purged during the reign of one of England's Dark Lords. We Gryffindors have never been that popular with Dark wizards, which hasn't been good for our longevity," he added with his mirthful grin still plastered on his face.

"But, I'm possibly the Heir of Gryffindor?" Harry asked, his eyes wide and unbelieving, which elicited another laugh from Jovan.

"I'd say that 'Heir' is a bit of a strong word. Father never put much stock in blood, unlike a certain scaly bastard I could name. It's not like there's much money left over, either. Most of the Gryffindor wealth and titles have passed quite legally out of the family's control over the centuries. That means that even if there is such a thing as the Heir of Gryffindor, you don't really get a lot from it. I guess it entitles you to Father's sword. You know, the one you pulled out of the Sorting Hat a while back. There might also be a few toys that I left around Hogwarts at one point or another, but that's about it," he finished, a little more downcast than when he'd started.

"Well… it's still nice to know, I guess. The sword won't be doing me much good, though, as I haven't the faintest idea how to use it. I fought that Basilisk using moves I picked up from half a movie I managed to catch on the telly when the Durselys were out shopping," Harry said, a little sheepishly.

Jovan roared his laughter and Fleur gave Harry a quizzical look. "You fought a Basilisk? And you haven't brought this up till now because…"

After that, Harry was forced to relate the events of his second year for his mate in considerable detail. By the time he was done, Gadralla had joined the group. Jovan's mate had the ageless beauty that only a part-Veela could have, though Harry felt that her appearance was nothing when compared to his Fleur. The fact that he considered her to be "his" Fleur didn't even make him blush by that point.

They retired after a while, another bedroom for their mentors having appeared on the same hallway as their own. A little tired, but pleased at more human contact, Harry and Fleur fell asleep in the same bed, though only their hands touched. In the morning, they found that the second bed had vanished and that theirs had doubled in size. It took Harry half an hour to stop blushing about it.

**... CHAPTER BREAK ...**

**Author's Notes: **Well, that certainly took me long enough. I wrote up about four chapters worth of story when I first started this one, though this is all new material. That was one of the hold-ups as I needed to bridge the chapter 1 material with the chapter 2 material with new content. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. If you like Harry/Fleur, I suggest you check out The Lie I've Lived by jbern (who is excellent, as always). It's just getting started, but… well, he's the Bungle in the Jungle guy. Do I even need to say more as an endorsement?

I'm really overwhelmed at the response the last chapter got in terms of reviews and I want to thank you all for taking the time to drop me a line.

I also want to thank the folks who helped me out with betaing this chapter including Cody, ValorOrgulloso, and Saskia.


	3. Preparation

**Summary: **HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**Last Chapter: **Fleur's desperate plan nets her much more than she bargained for when she finds a connection with Harry that is only spoken of in legend. The two wind up in a dream world between life and death where Harry meets an ancestor, also of the Bonded, who promises to train the two of them. Our story continues…

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 3: Preparation**

The next morning, Harry woke up to find that he and Fleur had drifted together in the night. They were pressed against each other, back to back, in the middle of the expansive bed. Harry suppressed his initial surprise and closed his eyes again, reveling in the feel of his mate's warm body against his.

How long they rested like that, Harry didn't know, but he eventually realized that Fleur was no longer asleep. Since she wasn't jumping up or talking, Harry finally decided to take the initiative and, his voice still thick from sleep, asked, "Fleur?"

She shifted against him and he licked his lips nervously as her body moved against his, making him painfully aware of their proximity. "Yes, 'Arry?"

Somewhat relieved at the perfectly natural tone to her voice, Harry pressed on, "We're still here, right? This wasn't all a dream, was it?"

"No, 'Arry," she replied, her voice becoming a little less throaty as she grew accustomed to speaking again and taking on an edge of amusement.

"Well… good," he said, trembling a bit as he seized his Gryffindor courage and rolled over, his left arm snaking around the girl's waist. "I'm glad it's not a dream."

Fleur pressed back against him, almost snuggling, and laughed lightly. "Were you always so charming?" she asked and placed her hand atop his. The skin-to-skin contact caused a buzz to course through Harry. It was every bit as pleasant as it had been the first time they touched after that first kiss, but now Harry could handle the sensations a little better.

Though he was a little fuzzy from the intoxicating feeling of touching his mate, Harry's voice was serious when he spoke next. "You know… I don't think I was. Charming, I mean. I think I've been changing a lot the few days."

Her fingers laced with his, and she snuggled backwards more emphatically against him which caused a certain portion of Harry's anatomy to experience blood flow issues. "I had hoped I was not the only one… I think I may be changing, as well. It is subtle, but I think our Bond might be pushing us together more. Rounding off our rough edges to make us fit together better. Like the pieces of a puzzle."

Harry smiled softly and squeezed Fleur once, hoping that she hadn't noticed him poking her in the rump. "I think I understand… I can't imagine us, as we were last year, being together for the long term. As it is, I don't think I mind changing. Fitting together with you sounds brilliant."

Fleur laughed lightly at this and pulled on his hand, slipping out from under his arm and away. "We will discuss that, in time. Right now, we shouldn't be in such a rush. Our esteemed Mentors mentioned that we might be here for years. We shouldn't concern ourselves overmuch with…" she paused and her eyes drifted down to Harry's not-so little problem. She chewed on her lip a bit before breaking into a wide grin and finishing the statement that Harry had feared she would, "… fitting together, just yet."

Harry blushed crimson and Fleur laughed again, hitting him in the head with a thrown pillow. Snapped out of his embarrassment, Harry returned fire and soon they were in the midst of a full blow pillow fight. It ended when Harry ran out of ammunition and the French girl sealed her victory with a light kiss on his lips that ended far sooner than he would have liked. As fleeting as the contact was, both of them took a moment to recover from the experience before venturing out of their room.

Some time later, they were spending the rest of a lazy morning in the common room with Jovan and Gadralla as Harry tried to get his head around his new, rather strange, situation. Waking up with Fleur had brought out both uncertainties and desires in the young man, and the two opposing forces waged war in his mind for a while. Eventually, Harry's mind had settled down enough to be able to formulate intelligent questions. He wasn't done with his issues, of course, but a temporary ceasefire had been called.

"So… last night, you said that you're going to train us?" he asked and at Jovan's nod, he continued. "Why, exactly? I mean, I can't shake the feeling that the trap in the tournament was meant for me, so I've got a feeling that I'll need it, but what does training have to do with Bonding?"

The older man paused for a moment, as though thinking over Harry's words, and then replied. "Veela Bonds are a powerful piece of light magic, as they are, ultimately, composed of life energy. Dark magic, and I don't mean half the stuff that your Ministry considers to be dark magic, is generally based on negative energies. True dark magic is based on energies of destruction, decay, disruption, or domination. True light magic is the exact opposite of dark magic, focusing on health, happiness, renewal, and sharing. Bonded can use dark magic to an extent, just as a dark wizard might use light magic, though doing so is not natural for us. Because of this natural opposition, the Bonded have naturally found themselves opposed to dark wizards since time began. We don't always go out of our way to fight them, but it often happens."

Jovan paused again, and looked to his wife. Harry nodded with only a small amount of hesitation as he parsed the information. Gadralla took her mate's hand and picked up the explanation. "Some legends say that each pair of Bonded is destined to face a particularly powerful Dark Lord. Though I don't think that's true, there do seem to be an alarming number of Dark Lords involved with the Bonded. Thus, somehow, these bubble worlds came into being, whether as a boon from some higher power or as a natural defense mechanism for our kind. This place exists only so long as you are here, and a new one is made for each Bonded pair. It is like a cocoon that protects you and allows you to change into what you will become. Here, you can learn what you will need to survive when you return to reality from those who have come before, make plans, and generally strengthen your bond before you have to face the harshness of the real world."

She offered her many-times-great grandson a soft smile. "If your Dark Lord did not already seek to destroy you, I can almost guarantee that he would try to harm you when news of what you are gets out. The legends of what the Bonded can do, while obscure and fraught with inaccuracies, would serve to draw those who seek power to you, either to destroy you or to control you. You will have to be strong to avoid them."

Harry's face grew grim and he nodded again. Fleur slipped her hand into his and offered him a reassuring squeeze, but otherwise said nothing. What Gadralla had said resonated within him, and he could feel an almost palpable need to protect his mate at all costs. So intense was the sensation that he only registered Fleur's hand as a comforting presence rather than the more customary nearly electric tingle. After a while, Harry asked another question that had come to light that morning. "We noticed… well, we think that we're starting to change. Our personalities are a little different from how they were. Is that another affect of the bond?"

Both of their mentors nodded and Jovan took up the answer. "As time goes on, you notice that you're not just changing emotionally, but also physically and magically. Emotionally and physically, each of you will start to shift more toward what the other one desires in an ideal mate. What, exactly, that means to you, I can't tell you. In time, it will become obvious as you will get along much better than you might have otherwise. One thing I can say for certain is that, Harry, you're going to find yourself becoming more moody as you start to become more Veela. Fleur, you might also notice that your emotional bursts intensify. This is just an intermediate step in the process, however, and will fade with time. Until that happens, we will be teaching you Occlumency to help you control your emotions better. There are a few additional benefits from the art, but they are fairly redundant because your Bond already provides you with a high degree of protection from outside mental influence."

"Magically, you're both going to be stronger than you ever were. The eventual strength you will achieve will be determined by Harry's potential, but increased somewhat even over that. Harry, I'd say that, prior to the Bond, you might have rivaled Dumbledore's strength by the time you reached forty and would have topped out a hair higher than Voldemort. Now, I'd say you will be in the same order of magnitude as Dumbledore by the time you return to reality and will probably match him by twenty-five, if not sooner. It will only go up from there. Fleur, you will notice the most difference, as you were only a little above average before the bond. You've probably doubled in strength since the bond started, though I doubt you've had occasion to notice."

Surprised at this, it took Harry several seconds to sputter out, "You mean… we're both going to be that strong?"

Gadralla took it in turn to reply. "Strong, yes. But strength is only a part of magic, and even then it's not the most important part. There's a diminishing return associated with most magic. That means that past a certain point, throwing more magic at something is just wasting the magic for a tiny gain in effect. What it does do for you is allow you to cast a lot more spells than a weaker magician or to attempt more powerful spells more often. The one that calls himself Voldemort is the strongest around at your time, but he still fears Dumbledore who is, quite honestly, weaker than he," she added. "Dumbledore, however, is a more skilled and diverse spellcaster, which gives him a distinct edge. If they were to simply stand and throw cutting hexes at each other until one fell, Voldemort would win every time… but that is not how fights are won. There are equal parts strength, skill, creativity, and luck associated with any magical battle and strengths in one area can compensate for weaknesses in others."

"As we have said, we fear that you two will run afoul of your current Dark Lord sooner rather than later. There is a gap in skill that I fear only time and experience can bridge, but you will have some other advantages which should help you out. Veela are very passionate creatures, and that means that they can perform many types of magic through intent alone as their capacity for intent is truly impressive. Part-Veela share this ability to an extent, but Bonded have a much greater degree of proficiency with it. First, take Veela fire. It is very energy efficient for a Veela to create and it's not bad in a fight. Unfortunately, the amount of power that most Veela have to draw on is very limited, so against a wizard the fire is only of limited use. You, however, are not under that restriction," she finished, grinning widely. "Watch this."

Gadralla conjured a small ball of flame, which guttered the normal orange and red of Veela fire. Then she started to pump more magical energy into the sphere and soon she was holding a ball of white hot heat that almost blinded her observers. The fact that they could feel the heat washing over them in waves from ten feet away was pretty impressive. Suddenly, the fireball vanished and they blinked the after images out of their vision to look at Gadralla again. "You hit a cap with Veela fire, too, but it's past the point where you start burning yourself with it. Since you're naturally a little bit fire resistant, that means it's horribly hot by that point and I doubt you'll ever have a need to go past that. Fire that hot is good for melting through things, like steel, stone, people…"

Harry and Fleur laughed nervously at the thought and the conversation soon turned to the type of schedule they were going to be setting in the coming days and months.

… **BREAK …**

It didn't take long for Harry to begin to regret expressing his initial misgivings about owning Gryffindor's sword as Jovan sought to make a fighter out of him. Jovan stressed the need for a weapon as some creatures were nearly impossible to damage with magic and the overall physical conditioning would help with other things. Remembering well his draconic encounter during the tournament and the fight with the basilisk, Harry threw himself into the sessions with a vengeance after the first few lessons even though his first session with the sword had been awkward, at best.

"Harry, in your fight with the Basilisk, you used the sword like a sharp stick. Even if you'd used it as a sword, which I don't think would have helped you much against a beast of that size, you still wouldn't have been using one tenth of the power of the weapon," Jovan explained, holding up a dream world duplicate of the Sword of Gryffindor. "The first thing you need to do is join it to you. A little blood on the ruby set here should do the trick. It only works for those of our bloodline or our bonded, so don't worry about that too much."

Jovan handed the blade to Harry and he scratched his finger and dripped some blood on the gemstone which glowed red briefly. Jovan created another dream duplicate of the weapon and did the same thing. "Now, you'll want to put your wand into it." Just tap the ruby three times with the wand tip. He did so and his wand vanished. Harry, somewhat hesitantly, did the same. "Good, now you're ready to start learning how to use the thing. Calling it the Sword of Gryffindor is really a bit misleading, though that is how Father preferred to use it. It's really the Weapon of Gryffindor. The weapon has no set shape or form, though it defaults to a sword at Father's request."

Harry nodded along, not interjecting any of his questions just yet but instead marveling once more at the beauty of the weapon he held. When he'd had it in his hands before, he'd never really had the time to examine it, but now he did and found it magnificence.

"Simply will the weapon to change, and it will do so and hold the new shape until you will it to change again. After a couple of weeks out of your presence, it'll revert to a sword, eject your wand, and have to be rebounded, but that shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, the most common change in form is to that of a wand. Since you've put your wand in there, you can cast spells with it in any form, though it'll probably take you a while to get used to doing so in anything other than wand shape as the movements are more difficult to get used to. Go on, give it a try and see if you can't get it back to your wand."

Harry willed the weapon to become his wand and was rather surprised when it did. The metal of the sword moved like a smooth liquid and pooled in on itself before becoming an exact replica of his wand. It even adopted the same finish and coloration, making it impossible for Harry to tell it apart from the original. He gave it a few flicks and cast a light spell, nodding in satisfaction when it worked every bit as well as it should have. "Now, that's not really your wand, it just looks like your wand. If someone were to try to break it, they'd be in for a nasty surprise as the Weapon is pretty much unbreakable. I wouldn't suggest you try to parry anything sharp while it looks like a wand, though, as there's no guard and having fingers regrown is painful and takes forever." Jovan grinned at his student's slightly queasy expression.

"Anyway, enough talking. Shift the weapon into a blunt sword and let's try to kill each other for a bit," Jovan declared and the two were shortly engaged in a sparing match that left them both bruised and winded. Harry hadn't been quite as bad as he could have been, but he'd never been trained in any way which meant he had only a small amount of raw talent to rely on.

In the dream world, energy and health were plentiful and both men were whole and rested within the space of half an hour. They went at it twice more on the first day and continued every day after that. Over the course of the month, they drilled with swords, shields, axes, staves, and even matched daggers connected by a thin silvery chain. The weapon was able to shift into just about any form at it's user's command, with little regard for it's starting or ending dimensions, which was something Harry had to file away under "because it's magic".

Jovan intimated that there was the sword was not unique and that, upon his return to reality, Harry would be able to find a second Weapon for Fleur. Thus, there were three copies of the sword floating around in the dream world at any one time. Perhaps the most useful aspect of all was that the weapon could be reduced to a ring or bracelet when not needed. This allowed for a nearly instantaneous drawing of a wand or blade, which might well save their lives one day.

While he and Jovan sweated, the ladies were not idle as Fleur got a crash course on advanced magical theory. Jovan and Gadralla had insisted on training them separately and then allowing them to share the knowledge with each other. After the first few sessions, the wisdom in this approach became apparent as Harry and Fleur naturally learned from each other at an amazing rate.

The only area where this was not true was with Occlumency. The mind shielding aspects of the hidden art might not have been that useful to the Bonded, but the emotional control aspects were critical. There were a few strained weeks as Harry and Fleur both developed raged tempers and fragile moods before they managed to get them under control.

As Harry and Fleur practiced fighting and magic, the very nature of their magic began to change as had been promised. The discovery of being able to perform Veela-style magic drove both Harry and Fleur on to great lengths in training. In addition to Veela fire, they both found they had a great proficiency for "natural" magic, or magic performed without a wand or incantation. They both quickly learned some of the most useful talents in the field, including learning to sense and even see the ebb and flow of magic around them.

Much to their delight, the Veela "intent" which had played havoc with their emotions for the first month proved a great asset once properly harnessed with Occlumency. This meant they had the ability to do pretty much any magic they could normally perform without a wand or incantation. Working without an incantation was NEWTs level magic, and hideously difficult by most estimates. Wandless casting, however, to be highly advanced magic and the number of wizards and witches capable of doing more than the most basic of spells that way was quite small as the wand was a profound focus for intent, even more so than incantations.

Doing things without the proper "tools" took a lot more energy than doing it with them. If the task of casting a spell were compared to moving a heavy boulder, the wand would be a lever and the incantation the fulcrum. Going without either amounted to doing the task with your bare hands. Even with the extra effort involved, simple spells weren't much of a drain and being able to wandlessly summon your wand was so useful that they didn't even consider not practicing it. Also, according to Jovan, draining your magic repeatedly made you grow in strength much faster, so Harry and Fleur made a point to use wands only when learning new magic or trying something particularly taxing. They were exhausted at the end of most days, but they quickly felt a difference in their strength and control and kept with it.

Though the males to test it on were limited, Fleur also found that her magical allure had vanished, and she hadn't been able to rekindle it. Gadralla had nodded knowingly at this and informed them that since Fleur had a permanent mate, the allure was no longer necessary. Some of the Bonded retained the power while others did not. It was one of the more random aspects of their powers. By all measures, Fleur had lost hers, though that fact didn't cause her much grief. Her allure had been responsible for more problems than solutions over the years and she was quite happy with Harry and had no desire to attract another mate.

Harry was surprised to find out exactly how much he benefited from a good instructor as he picked up spell after spell in quick succession. The replenishing nature of the dream world only helped with this since they rarely found they needed to rest during even the most intensive of magic training. Harry's best topic, as always, was combat magic. Fleur's training at Beauxbatons had been more consistent, but it was more oriented toward Charms and Transfiguration than combat. When Jovan pronounced Harry passable with the sword, Jovan took to teaching him combat spells while Gadralla continued to tutor Fleur in theory, charms, and transfiguration. Because they were so easily able to share their knowledge, Harry and Fleur both progressed at a phenomenal rate.

Days went into weeks and weeks went into months as the two of them grew closer together and their power blossomed. Together, they were much stronger than they had ever been apart and Harry already couldn't imagine his life without Fleur. He'd never known love in the real world, but now he both knew and understood that much vaunted emotion. Sometimes, he wondered what was going on outside of their dream world, but they were always so busy living and loving inside of it, he did not spare all that much thought for it.

… **BREAK …**

Sometime in the second month, Harry went to give Fleur a kiss and pulled back in surprise. She shot him a questioning look, but he only smiled. "I just realized that I don't have to stand on my toes to kiss you anymore."

Fleur ran a hand through his hair and kissed him thoroughly. "Your hair is also longer," she noted absently when they broke apart. "I have always liked long hair on a man," she admitted with a faint blush coloring her perfect cheeks.

"Do you suppose," Harry began, growing thoughtful, "Do you think that these are some of the changes that Jovan and Gadralla were talking about? I'm becoming more what you want me to be?"

Fleur looked thoughtful and nodded. "I suppose… please, Harry, don't think that I don't like you. It's just… well, when I have always imagined my husband, I thought he would be tall and handsome, with long black hair." She paused and then grinned again, "You're already handsome, so it's just the tall thing and the hair thing that'll change, I suppose."

That answer went a long way toward killing the budding tendril of doubt that had started to form in Harry's mind and he rewarded her with a kiss. Though the conversation ended there, both of them started to notice more changes in each other.

In that first month, Fleur had lost her dismissive and aloof nature, and she was changing in other ways, as well. She was no longer as arrogant as she had been, and she enjoyed English things more. She was easy to laugh, radiated kindness, and became content and easy to satisfy, especially when Harry was near. She hadn't undergone many physical changes, but she had been so close to an ideal woman in the first place, that there was no surprise there.

Similarly, Harry had grown a great deal physically, and his personality had become more mature. That was only the beginning, however, as the remaking would continue over the next several months. Harry grew several more inches in height and his shoulders broadened considerably as he became stronger and more powerful. He wasn't a hulking brute, but he was a lean, athletic physical specimen of a fifteen year old. His hair had quickly grown out to touch his shoulders and then, just as mysteriously, had stopped growing again. While they were being affectionate one evening, Fleur had, only partially in jest, made him promise to consider an earring when they returned to reality. He had grinned at the time, remembering the looks she'd been shooting Bill Weasley and realizing that the French girl had a very different view of what a real man should look like than Harry had grown up with. Not that he minded, of course, because she paid him in a currency that he very much desired. His vision steadily improved, as well, until he found that he no longer needed his glasses to see.

Possibly the most interesting change he underwent was that his scar disappeared. In a weird way, he almost missed the lightning-bolt shaped mark as it had stared back at him in the mirror for so many years, but in other, more forceful ways, he was glad to be rid of it. With it gone, he felt liberated and free in a way that he never had as a child. The face that stared back at him from his mirror wasn't the face of the Boy-Who-Lived. It was the face of Harry Potter, the Tri-Wizard champion, the Bonded mate of the most beautiful women in the world.

Aside from the physical, he was also changing in other ways. He had grown steadily more mature, with a confidence that he'd never had before. Where, before, he might have run from his feelings for Fleur, he loudly proclaimed them at every opportunity. Aside from the romantic, he didn't get depressed or dejected as he once had. No longer did he balk at problems, but rather he tackled all challenges head-on with a self-assured demeanor that held that there were no unsolvable problems, only problems which had not yet been solved.

Fleur's changes were also wonderful to him. He had liked the Fleur he met after the second task, but he positively loved the Fleur she had become. They were compatible on a lever that he had never imagined possible.

Days blurred together as Harry and Fleur trained under two of the most powerful beings either had met. They learned more in a week than they would have in a month in reality, but it always seemed like there was more to learn. The nature of their environment provided them with unique opportunities, as well.

"Fleur, do you know how to apparate?" Jovan had asked one evening after their Occlumency lessons had been completed. When Fleur nodded, Jovan went on. "This dream world is different from reality on many levels. Some of the fundamental laws of magic do not work here. For instance, you can't apparate."

"Apparition is one of the most fundamental skills of wizards and witches. It is an almost reflexive ability that really requires only the most basic of training. You learn to will yourself to another place and POOF," he made a gesture with his hand, flinging his fingers wide, "you're there."

"No one really knows where the ability came from, but I can tell you it's more complex than most give it credit for. To apparate, you do three things. Firstly, you transform your body into a cloud of particles. The particles are magically charged and hang around in your aura pretty consistently. Then you create a tiny, tiny magical gateway and shunt those millions of little bits of you through it to your destination. When you get there, you then transform the cloud of particles back into your body. This all takes less than the blink of an eye to complete, which is why it's reflexive. If it wasn't, few wizards would have the skill to do it," he said.

"Apparition can be tracked by watching for the distinctive magical signature of the portals being opened. It's nearly impossible to tell where the other half of an apparition occurred, but if you are monitoring an area, you can see when someone enters or leaves that area. As I understand it, this is how your Ministry enforces their licensing of apparition," he continued.

"Now, this place is different. Here, you can't open the gateways, which means that, at best, you can transform your body to particles and back. In the real world, if you can't make the gateway, your body won't let you even do that, which is what anti-Apparition wards do by blocking the creation of gateways. Splinching generally occurs when your will is insufficient to hold the gateway open for long enough to put all the particles through. Here… we can trick the process and use it to our advantage. What we're going to do is practice a form of apparition called "flickering". It's similar to apparition, but not the same. On the plus side, it can't be stopped by wards, is silent, and it can be slowed down to leave ones self dissolved for several seconds if needed. On the down side, it's bloody difficult to learn, it only works for taking you to places you can see or otherwise sense, and if you get hit by a spell while you're dissolving or reforming, it can be dangerous."

True to his word, Jovan taught them the technique, but Harry splinched himself several times in the process. As they got better with it, Jovan began to incorporate it into their physical training. The technique was useful, but quite tricky to master. Harry tried flickering around attacks, which was quite easy, until Jovan anticipated his move and nailed him with a stinging hex in mid flicker. This lead to a quite painful splinching and Harry learned to always move when he flickered as a magical attack could still hit him while he was dissolved.

There were other lost techniques, as well, though none so great as that. Eventually, a year had passed and there was a small celebration. In time, another year would pass, and six months more, before anything major changed between Harry and Fleur.

… **BREAK …**

Eating in the dream world was something done for fun more than anything else. They didn't get hungry and only rarely needed to sleep. Jovan had explained to them early on that while their minds were occupied in this place, their bodies were being nourished by raw magic. When they did want to eat, it was a simple matter to visit the kitchen where all manner of food was sitting, already prepared. Even the French dishes that Fleur so loved would be sitting there, waiting to be eaten as though this place was reflecting something outside of Paris rather than Scotland.

Thus it was that Harry gathered up enough food for a dozen people, using a simple charm to shrink it and placing it in the picnic basket that the dream had so graciously provided. He then shrank the basket itself and stuffed it into one of his pockets before going to find his mate. Doing so was almost trivial, as a second of concentration gave him a general idea of her direction, her mood, and her health. It made surprising her difficult since she had the same sense for him, though he had a number of things in store for her tonight that would probably fulfill that goal. The picnic was one. The item currently resting in his breast pocket was another.

In any case, he did his best to approach the classroom where Fleur and Gadralla were practicing invisibility charms. He knocked on the door and made a big show of looking at his wrist. Fleur gave him a strange look because he wasn't actually wearing a watch. Gadralla gave him a strange look because she didn't know what a watch was and thus didn't understand the gesture in the first place. Needless to say, both women looked at him like he was a little barmy.

"Excuse me, ladies. It's getting late and I was wondering if Fleur might do the honor of accompanying me on a walk around the castle this evening?" he asked in a voice filled with false pomp.

His mate grinned and sidled over to him before casting a glance back to Gadralla. "We're finished, aren't we?"

Harry almost laughed at the faintly pleading note in her voice. Fleur really had changed a lot since they'd kissed, even moreso than the fact that she was now nineteen would have otherwise indicated. "Of course, dear. Have fun," the older woman said with a knowing wink to Harry. She was in on what he was about to do as he'd had to enlist Jovan's assistance with the planning. Harry winked back and led his mate out of the room, arm in arm.

Together, they wandered the castle for a little while, pausing every so often to steal a kiss or three, but generally just enjoying being with each other. They talked about what was going on with their training, though it was not much of a topic since they did very similar things each day. However, they enjoyed the sound of each other's voices and kept up the discussion for some time, saving for quick breaks to steal kisses.

The sun had set on the dream world by the time they reached the base of the Astronomy Tower. Harry pulled Fleur up the steps without explaining. She kept asking him where they were going, but he mischievously admonished her and declared that it was a surprise.

When they finally reached the top, Harry pulled out the picnic basket and enlarged it. Inside was a blanket, which he spread over the hard stone, and a number of candles. A quick spell set the candles alight, and another enlarged a handful of tasseled cushions which went out as seats. "My lady," he declared with a flourish, indicating for her to sit on one of the plush seats. She laughed lightly at him and did as directed while he brought out the courses of a feast, one by one, along with Fleur's favorite wine.

They sat and laughed and ate for quite a while. When the food was finished, Harry vanished the remains of it and they kissed for a while in the candlelight and moonlight. After a while, they broke apart, laughing, and Fleur took a seat on one of the large blocks of stone which ringed the top of the tower. Harry smiled, his hand deftly plucking a small box from his pocket as he advanced on her.

"Fleur Delacour," he started, sinking down to one knee before her causing her eyes and mouth to go wide. "I was wondering if you would do me the honor of being my wife?" With that, he produced the box and opened it to reveal the ring inside. It had taken him quite a while to find a suitable ring, though this one was only a product of the dream world. It was a copy of the ring that Gadralla wore. In fact, it was the same ring. Jovan had revealed to him that the ring remained in Hogwarts in the real world and he and Gadralla declared that they would be honored for him to present it to Fleur as well. It was another of the scant few items that could be claimed by a descendent of Jovan Gryffindor.

Her response nearly sent both of them flying from the tower, which Harry didn't really want to think about. Falling wouldn't have been fun, but since the entire world was a half-reality, they probably would have survived. "So… that's a yes?" he gasped out as he tried to make sense of the rapid French babbling in his chest.

She pulled back and looked at him with happy tears in her eyes. "Oui! That is a yes!"

And then she kissed him for all she was worth, which was quite a lot, in Harry's estimation. The kiss set both of their bodies afire with desire and, for the first time between them, their evening became purely clothing optional. The blanket was hit with several wandless cushioning charms and saw an originally unintended purpose as Harry and Fleur walked the road to manhood and womanhood, respectively. That is, Harry became a man and Fleur became a woman. It could have worked the other way around, but that would have been weird and would likely have required some interesting potions work.

… **BREAK …**

The end of the third year saw both Harry and Fleur happy, healthy, and quite powerful. The incredible rate at which they had been able to learn had exhausted their Mentors' knowledge of normal magic and were studying the more esoteric arts of Harry's ancestors. Jovan was an artificer of great skill and taught Harry about the crafting of magical artifacts and the lesser discipline of potion brewing. Gadralla was an enchantress and taught Fleur about the enchantment of magical items and the creation of permanent spells. Her arts complimented Jovan's well, and together, they had been the ones to forge Gryffindor's Weapon, as well as many of the most complicated artifacts in Hogwarts. Either art would make Harry and Fleur wealthy in the wizarding world, but possessing both skills would increase that potential greatly.

While this study was ongoing, both Harry and Fleur had, essentially, graduated from their other training. After six months of training, either of them would have easily rated an O on the DADA and charms NEWTS. After the first year, Transfiguration and Potions could have been added to that list and their abilities with charms and curses would have gotten them quite far in Auror training. Harry had caught up to his current year in both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, which Jovan joking referred to as just "Runes", as Harry fully intended to never take another day of Divination in his life. At the end of that second year, their knowledge was approximately equal to that of an Auror fresh out of training, though they had been taught a number of lost techniques and spells which would have given them an edge over even that level. Not to mention the edge granted by their massive raw strength and command of natural magic.

Another year of training showed even greater results and put them into the top one hundred living wizards in terms of overall knowledge, though the gap between the top and bottom of that list was staggering. The only thing they lacked was the ease that only came from years upon years of practice and application. Unfortunately, that practice could only come with time and would prove a deciding factor in some of the battles they might face.

In additional to the magical, they'd both learned physical fighting techniques, though only Harry had taken the trouble to learn to fight with a sword. Fleur favored the chained dagger form of her weapon, though it wasn't as flashy as Harry's style. Her training was more of the "stab them quickly and get away" sort than the straight out fighting that Harry was prepared for. Jovan had told them about his hidden rooms in Gryffindor tower, where the real world version of Fleur's engagement ring was hidden. Jovan indicated that one of the predecessors of the Weapon of Gryffindor should still be there, as well. It didn't function have the same range as the weapon which had been called the Sword of Gryffindor, as the larger weapon forms were beyond its reach, but it could handle being a wand or a pair of chained daggers well enough. Since Fleur favored the smaller weapons, in any case, it would likely serve her well.

As their instruction wound down, the four of them began to relax more and talk about the future. Harry and Fleur needed to come up with a plan for when they returned home. Jovan was able to check outside their small bubble and informed them that a little less than six weeks had passed for their three years inside the dream world. That would place them back in reality a little past Harry's birthday, giving them two and a half weeks before the start of the next Hogwarts term.

Going back to Hogwarts was what worried Harry most. Fleur's rather disastrous last year of schooling and sudden disappearance meant that she had never gotten to sit her NEWTs. She was more than ready to take them, of course, but there was a matter of actually getting the chance. For that matter, Harry would have done well on the exams, given a chance. Fleur could probably find a job in the meantime, since being in the tournament was likely to give her a little leverage, but the thought of being apart from Harry for so long threatened to make her physically ill. Harry didn't think it would do much good for him to be apart from her, either, and voiced his desire for the two of them to remain together at all costs.

The big wildcard in the mix was Dumbledore. Though Harry was, physically and mentally, eighteen, he would not be considered that age in the real world, which left him without control of his financial and legal affairs. Due to this, he was, more or less, at the mercy of the Headmaster for what he was allowed to do. In general terms, Harry could probably affect an escape from whatever confinement he found himself in, but he didn't want Fleur to have to live like a fugitive despite her protestations that she would go anywhere that Harry did.

All of this culminated in Harry desperately trying to figure out how he was going to find a place for Fleur at Hogwarts. With her recent tutelage, she was probably qualified to instruct Defense, but Harry wasn't sure he wanted to risk her on that. Defense teachers always seemed to be haunted by misfortune. It seemed safer to have her somehow enroll as a student, though it would be much more boring for her. As she hadn't yet taken her NEWTs, that was likely to be an achievable plan. In the end, Harry decided he would use as much leverage as he could on Dumbledore and let the man come up with the plan. If the worst came, he could always run away to France for a couple of years. The two of them were quite capable of disappearing, even without resorting to fleeing to the Muggle world.

After a few last days of discussion and planning, Harry and Fleur said a tearful goodbye to their mentors and returned to the lake shore where they had first appeared and embraced each other. Jovan had told them they must declare their bond complete before they would be able to return to reality. He'd quietly let Harry know that he was free to embellish his declaration as much as he wanted, which had given the young man a few ideas.

His voice, now stronger and more masculine than it had been, broken the silence as he spoke, "Fleur, my life, my love. I declare my bond with you, now and forever, to be complete. Let us never face a day without looking upon each other. I want you to know that I love you, with ever ounce of my being today, tomorrow, and always."

From the look on her face and the tears welling in her eyes, Harry knew he'd managed to do the right thing with his words. He'd spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right thing to say and thought he'd done a passable job with it. She whispered back, "I love you, too, 'Arry. I don't have such beautiful words ready for you, but I promise that I will show you how I feel as soon as we can find a moment alone together," she purred the last and Harry felt a stirring inside him that made him want to ravish her right there. Instead, he held himself in check and allowed her to complete. "The bond we have formed is now complete."

They managed to start to kiss before the world changed again, blossoming into warm green light.

… **CHAPTER BREAK …**

**Author's Notes: **Well, I was disorganized and made a right mess of the prereading on this chapter. ValorOrgulloso did help me with that and I made a "week later" sweep on the text, so it shouldn't be too torturous. Anyway, this scene is the big "training montage" for the story. Harry is definitely powerful in this tale, as is Fleur, but the two of them together aren't a match for old Voldie in a head-to-head. Whether or not I'm going to use Horcruxes, I don't know… I'm thinking not as I don't know that I can do it without making the story boring. While I like the idea well enough, there are only so many "gotta destroy 'em all!" stories one can read before getting sick of it. The ones where it's interesting definitely don't involve Powerful!Harry before the hunt starts.

No, as you can tell from the timetable, we're going to be doing the events (at least, some of the events) of OotP. Since the challenges of OotP are non-combat in nature, it should still be fun.

Anyway, again thanks to ValorOrgulloso for her beta work. If you guys like it, please review.


	4. Homecoming

**Summary: **HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**Last Chapter: **Fleur's desperate plan nets her much more than she bargained for when she finds a connection with Harry that is only spoken of in legend. The two wind up spending three (subjective) years in a dream world, though only six weeks have passed in reality. There, one of Harry's ancestors trained the pair in many ancient magics and arts, but eventually that time came to a close. The real story begins as the pair returns to reality…

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 4: Homecoming**

The warm light cooled in intensity and the world around him settled into a deep, emerald green haze which made his eyes sting. Harry shifted, his body moving sluggishly as though he were underwater, with odd cramps shooting through his limbs. It was unpleasant, but he felt a certainty that he needed to move quickly. He couldn't breathe, he realized, and he began to struggle. In his thrashing, his limbs banged into solid surfaces around him, though he couldn't quite tell where they were. He floated a little in what he now realized must be some sort of liquid and flailed his knees and elbows.

His right fist made contact with something solid and there was a sharp crackling noise which echoed oddly in the fluid around him. The verdant shell cracked open a little, and he could feel the fluid surging out and see blindingly bright light spilling in. He continued to buck and the green walls broke more and more. Suddenly, there was a rushing sound as more of the fluid found an exit and gushed out, twisting his body around as a current formed.

A solid kick from cramping legs knocked away a big piece of the lower section of the dome and the liquid level suddenly plunged below his neck, allowing him to breathe again. His first breath showed him that his lungs were full of liquid and he ended up retching and coughing violently as he expelled the fluid. The stuff was odorless and tasteless, but that didn't make the clearing process much more pleasant as it was still nauseatingly thick. As he shook against the wall, cracks continued to grow without his direct help. In a few seconds, he had fallen through the weakest part of the shell into a world of bright sunlight and rough gravel.

Shaking himself, Harry realized he was covered in a thick, viscous substance that reminded him more than a little of snot. That thought sent him to retching again and soon he felt he had expelled the last of the gunk. His ears managed to pick up the sound of someone panting and he realized it was him. He tried to rise, but his limbs betrayed him, and he flopped helplessly on the sharp gravel.

His weakly groping hand impacted on something soft and after a few seconds of fumbling realized that it was another person. During his fumbling inspection, he managed to find the other person's hand and clutched it. Forcing his eyes to open in the bright light, Harry found that the person resting beside him was Fleur, also covered in the same goo but somehow still looking attractive. How she managed that, Harry would never know.

He was about to say something when a shout from the direction of the castle sang out, followed by running feet. Harry never saw who arrived as the ordeal he'd just been through caught up with him and he passed out.

… **BREAK …**

It had been three long, blissful years since Harry had awoken to see the ceiling of the hospital wing at Hogwarts, but all good things must come to an end. He squinted a little as his eyes opened, still feeling sensitive to the light. He glared at the ceiling for a moment as he took mental stock of his situation. He could sense Fleur's presence, somewhere nearby and resting, so he felt safe in letting his thoughts calm before he looked for her.

In a word, he felt exhausted. He'd never thought to ask Jovan and Gadralla the details of what would be happening with his body back in reality, which he now realized might have been a mistake. He felt like someone had just locked him in the broom shed with half a dozen angry bludgers, and then, after that was done; they'd gotten nasty with him.

As the light became more tolerable, he opened his eyes wider and risked looking around. Groaning with effort, he raised his head a little and got a better view of the room. He was definitely in the hospital wing, if the neat row of beds with crisp white linen was any indication. The next bed over held a lump that he was certain of being his fiancé, but the room was otherwise empty.

Harry collapsed back to the bed and whimpered as his neck muscles let him know their displeasure at his last activity. He did his best to ignore them and used his Occlumency skills to order his thoughts and suppress the pain. Even without the mind shielding benefits, that branch of magic was proving to be one of the most vital skills he knew.

It took almost half an hour to get the pain to a level where he could make slow movements without wincing. When he could do that, he took stock of his physical situation. When he'd raised his head before, he'd clearly seen his glasses on the nightstand, so he'd apparently retained his improved eyesight. A quick shake of his head showed the long hair had come along as well, though someone had tied it back. As he looked it over, he found that his body was the same as it had been in their dream world, even down to the increased and toned muscles. That certainly went a long way toward explaining why he felt he'd never used his limbs before. There were large sections of his limbs where that was, quite literally, true.

Working slowly, he managed to relieve a lot of the soreness with a few gentle stretches, though they still hurt him. As he wound down from the brief and very restricted workout, he glanced to the side and noticed that Fleur was smirking at him from her bed, a good five feet away. Harry gave her a low growl and flicked his hand, vanishing the small table between their beds. Another flick of his wrist brought her bed gliding over to his, and one more merged the two together. Even though his body was aching, he was pleased to find his magic eager and willing to comply with his wishes.

Her smirk changed to a feline grin as she slid a few inches into the crook of his arm and slipped her arm around his waist. "I didn't expect to be this sore," she whispered to him, her voice raspy.

He grinned at her and took a light kiss from her lips before snuggling in against her again. As brief as his workout had been, it had still exhausted him. "You're sore? You've barely changed at all. I'm the one who went from a shrimp to a fully grown person. I just hope that this is the worst thing we have to deal with for a bit. I feel like a newborn baby," he rasped with a wince as his throat proved to be just as sore as the rest of him.

She didn't say a word to him, instead choosing to swiftly fall asleep in his arms. He smiled at her and quickly did the same.

… **BREAK …**

It was dark when he awoke, but Harry felt like a changed man for the second time in what he assumed was one day. His muscles had stopped hurting and his voice was much better as well. How that change had come about, he wasn't sure, but the rack of empty potion vials beside the bed probably had a lot to do with it. He nuzzled Fleur awake and kissed her for a while before breaking apart.

"I think we'd best go ahead and face the music. We've wasted a day and we're on a pretty tight timetable," he mumbled into her ear. Her hair had been cleaned by someone and tied back out of the way, just as his had been. "Unless you want to christen one of these beds… I think that might be suitable revenge for all those long, lonely nights I've spent in this place."

Fleur's lips pinched, though her eyes continued to smile, as she swatted him on the arm playfully. "No, I don't think so. We have never done that in this world. I would wish for my second first time to be a little more special than that."

Harry's face fell, though his disappointment was mostly adopted in jest. "Don't look at me that way," she said, giving him a stern look. After a few seconds, however, she relented. "Fine, we will someday; but not today."

With that small victory, Harry's face lit up, and he wiggled his eyebrows. Fleur laughed and pushed him away from her as she stretched and wormed her way toward the edge of the bed. As he swung his feet over the opposite side of the bed, Harry noticed a bright red and gold bird perched on one of the beds across the room, watching him with what he would almost swear was amusement. "'Lo Fawkes," he said with a smile and the phoenix responded with a happy cry before launching himself into the air and vanishing in a burst of flame.

"I guess we're going to be seeing the headmaster soon," Harry said in a flat tone. He honestly didn't know how he felt about seeing Dumbledore again after so long. In his youth, the man made a number of decisions which Harry still did not agree with, but he at least understood some of why he'd made them. Now, however, Harry was his own man. He would accept advice, but he would no longer be ordered to do things he did not agree with.

"Can we do something about these?" Fleur asked, waving her hand at their clothes. They were both wearing the scratchy white pajamas that one got in the Hospital Wing and their clothes were missing. Fortunately, their wands were on one of the small tables and Harry reclaimed them and, with a wordless wave, outfitted them both in comfortable Muggle jeans and t-shirts. His was a solid green with a red Gryffindor lion on the front while Fleur's was a deep golden color with the word "Goddess" emblazoned on the front in dark blue.

Fleur looked down at it and smiled at him, though when Harry flicked his hand again and the word "Love" appeared in red above "Goddess", she stuck her tongue out at him and fixed it with her own magic. "Can't leave a nice thing alone, can you?" she asked, though he knew she was just teasing him.

"Truth in advertising, luv. Didn't want to get accused of mislabeling a precious commodity," he said with his best roguish grin. After three years of nearly constant contact, not to mention the powerful magical bond they shared, they could read each other almost instantly. As an afterthought, Fleur conjured up a pair of wrist holsters for their wands and put a weak invisibility enchantment on them. Harry slipped his on and whispered "vanish" in parseltongue at the holster, which caused it and the wand it contained to fade from view though he could still sense the concentration of familiar magic hovering there. Fleur did the same thing, using the parseltounge ability that she had gained from Harry through the bond much as he was able to use the Veela's magic sense.

Though Jovan had indicated that there was a small branch of magic that Slytherin had developed that utilized parseltongue, he had been unable to teach it. Harry wasn't sure he wanted to delve into what was probably a very Dark art and contented himself with using the ability to set difficult to break passwords and speak with conjured serpents.

"Well, we should probably head for his office. I don't fancy sitting on these confounded beds for what I fear will be a painfully long conversation," Harry said, truly serious again. His mate gave him a small nod and took his hand, walking with him to the headmaster's office.

Since he was in no particular hurry, Harry lead them on a rather scenic route though the castle, marveling at how different everything looked when one could see the magical energy around things. An astounding percentage of the castle was enchanted in one way or another, though it was often not obvious what each spell did. The floors, by and large, were layered with durability charms which would explain why the many generations of students had not worn ruts in the hallways over the years. Glass was usually unbreakable, but often had sparkling charms or glare reduction charms added. Just about anything that could have been enchanted had been at one point or another.

Eventually, however, their tour ended and the duo found themselves before the gargoyle. When it did not immediately spring aside, Harry looked to his mate and shrugged. He was in no particular hurry to get on with things so he simply conjured a very plush loveseat and settled in to wait. His mate smiled and did the same, curling up against him.

Fleur dozed off, snuggled into his chest again, while Harry gently stroked her hair and smiled. Dumbledore often kept students waiting outside of his office to put them off, but such tactics couldn't work on Harry. Not anymore. Most likely, however, the Headmaster was simply away on business. It was the summer, after all.

Eventually, the gargoyle turned and the pair of them headed up after vanishing the chair back into the ether from whence it came. They paused at the door just long enough to hold hands and take a deep breath before heading inside.

"Harry, Mademoiselle Delacour, how pleasant to see you. You are looking quite well," the Headmaster said from his seat behind his massive desk. His gaze held its customary twinkle, though it was otherwise unreadable and both of them felt a little more uncomfortable than they had a moment before. "Please, have a seat. Lemon drop?"

They politely declined, as had virtually every other student since he had started the practice, and took up seats in the two chairs before the desk. They were no longer touching, but they were both exercising precise control over their emotions using Occlumency. If it grew dire, of course, they could draw strength from each other through their bond, but that would only work if one of them was able to keep cool.

"How have you been? Madame Delacour has been informed of your revival and will likely be here posthaste. I imagine you're eager to return home," he said, fixing Fleur with his twinkling gaze.

"I would like to see my mother, yes. However, I don't know that I would like to return home just yet…" she trailed off, looking to Harry for support.

"What she means is that we aren't going to allow ourselves to be separated. We are Bonded," Harry provided, knowing full well that Dumbledore had already worked that much out and was just wanting them to confirm it. He respected the Headmaster, but knew that he would often put people through unnecessary steps by holding back information. Speaking of which, Harry continued. "Actually, we would really appreciate it if you could help us make arrangements for a few things and answer a few questions."

"Primarily," he started but paused as he tried to think of how he was going to word his request. "When I was in my first year, I asked you why Voldemort was after me. You said that you couldn't tell me at the time. I know that you had only what was best for me in mind at the time, but, Professor…" he paused again and drew a deep breath, as much from nervousness as a sense of dramatic timing. "I have some large decisions to make soon and I need to know that piece of information."

Dumbledore's face remained as placid as ever as he gazed deep into Harry's eyes. The twinkling effect seemed to increase, but after a few seconds, ever so slowly, it dimmed. "And if I do not feel the time is right for you to know that information, Harry?" he asked, his voice kindly, but with the underlying forcefulness of a man who is not accustomed to being commanded.

"Professor," Harry said, his gaze never wavering as he leaned forward slightly. "I have a fiancé now, one who will be my wife as soon as the law will allow." Dumbledore was a master at hiding surprise, but Harry caught a telltale sign of it, nothing more than a twitch at the corner of one of the old man's eyes. That encouraged Harry and he felt something unperceivable in the room shift, almost as though he was taking control of the situation in a literal fashion. "If I don't know why he is after me… then I cannot allow her to stay in England." Here, Harry paused to allow what he had said to sink in before he let loose with the one threat he knew would get him what he wanted to know. "Of course, I can't allow her to go alone. I shall accompany her to wherever we feel is safest. Right now, I'm afraid that place is not England."

There was a pause and Dumbledore asked in that same quiet but forceful voice, "And what if you were not allowed to leave the country?"

Without missing a beat, Harry replied, "I would probably spend the first few weeks in whatever country I ended up in feeling very bad about what I'd done to get there." The threat in his words was apparent, as was his confidence. It was clear that Harry not only expected to leave if he wanted to, but was perfectly willing to use force to achieve his goals.

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a long moment. He really looked at him, with eyes that twinkled more fiercely than Harry had ever seen before. One minute stretched into two and then three. Finally, when it seemed like the staring would go on forever, the aged headmaster seemed to deflate a little. He sat back in his chair and looked at Harry, the twinkle again at its normal level. "You're not the same young man you were two months ago, are you, Harry?"

"No, sir."

"There is a prophecy," Dumbledore began again, sighing as he said it. "I haven't informed you of it until now, because I did not wish to push too much on to your shoulders at such a young age… Alas, that may have been the folly of an old man. I wanted you to have a normal childhood… Just one year of peace would have eased my mind. I owed your parents that much for the mistakes I made concerning their protection. That prophecy is what placed them so high on Voldemort's list."

As the old man went on, Harry was acutely aware of just how old the headmaster was. He'd always felt grandfatherly, but in truth, he was more of a great-great-great grandfather. If he was telling the truth, which Harry felt that he was, then he had done what he had done out of concern. That softened the blow a little, though it still stung.

"Voldemort only knows half of the prophecy, and even that much was enough for him to seek out your parents, though he would gladly have killed them before that. The prophecy was given shortly before your birth, and it leads me to believe that you will be the one to bring about Voldemort's death. I won't give you the exact wording because Voldemort does not have it, and I fear that he would go to great lengths to steal that knowledge from you. If he were to find out the wording… well, I fear that you would be even more of a target and that he might find a way to circumvent it in order to kill you. Suffice it to say that it is by your hands that he will die, or else the opposite."

Harry took it in and nodded. "I kind of figured," he said, surprising even himself with the honesty of it. "I haven't really had four years of peace and quiet. Even third year saw Peter free to return to the Dark Bastard. Every time he's shown up, I've been right in the middle of things, fighting him or being targeted by him. It makes a lot of sense to hear that it really will come down to the two of us." He could feel Fleur wasn't quite so calm, but did his best to reassure her by touching her hand and giving her a grin. "I guess this means the wedding might have to wait a bit."

Fleur gave him a light slap on the hand and grinned back at him, speaking for the first time since the meeting had really gotten underway. "It will not. Just till it's legal."

Dumbledore watched the exchange with tired, but somewhat relieved eyes, and broke in. "You have changed your mind about… the best area of safety, then? It is imperative that you remain in a safe place as much as possible, Harry. Both of you. Two weeks ago, I saw the mark on a Death Eater's arm flare to life and saw him called to his master. Something has happened, and I fear that Voldemort has found a way to return to a body."

As little as the prophecy shocked him, somehow the resurrection of Voldemort was even easier to accept. "How did he do it?" he asked. Fleur had gasped, but did not say more, instead tightening her grip on her fiancé's hand.

"I believe that the trap at the Tri-Wizard Tournament was intended to bring you to Voldemort and his servants where you could be killed as a part of a dark ritual to bring about his resurrection. I fear that Elphias Doge was the eventual victim selected to take your place since you were unavailable," he said, looking even more deflated than before. Though Harry didn't know the name, he did have an automatic level of sympathy for anyone harmed by Voldemort. "We are reforming our old resistance group as the Minister does not seem inclined to believe that Voldemort is back. As you now know how important you are, I would appreciate it if you would let us assist you in making sure you are safe and well protected at all times."

Harry nodded, his face grim. "We'll let you help us if we feel that it's necessary and you don't try to push us around," he said, not willing to relinquish control over his destiny even in the face of this tragedy. He cracked half a grin and asked, "Anything else insanely evil happen while we were away?"

Even amid such dire news, Dumbledore chuckled a little. "No, just that minor tidbit. Aside from that little thing, nothing."

Even Fleur, as nervous as she was, grinned at the thought of Voldemort's resurrection being a "small" piece of news.

Dumbledore had recovered a little from the earlier revelations and looked more himself. "So, am I to take it that you will be staying in England?"

Harry looked him in the eye again and collected his thoughts. He had already pushed considering the full ramifications of the prophecy into the back of his mind for the time being, but he needed to figure out how he was going to respond. "Well… if he is actively trying to kill me, then I don't think that there's anywhere to flee to, really. I had best stay here and tackle things head-on or I'll find myself on the run from an entire country when he finishes taking over here. Though I may change my mind if that road is made needlessly difficult," he finished, with a forceful tone which let Dumbledore know that all was not forgiven. "There are a number of roadblocks in my way, including our need for advanced tutors or some field experience."

"Speaking of which, that brings me to one of the things you can help us with," Harry said. "We have been in a temporally accelerated pocket for a bit over three years, Professor. I have also discovered that I have something of a birthright that I doubt my father knew about. I am the last descendant of one of the sons of Godric Gryffindor and wish to claim a number of items that my ancestor left here in the school. The only one anyone knows about as of yet is the sword which rests there," he said and inclined his head toward the display case where the Weapon of Gryffindor rested. "The others are in a set of hidden rooms which can only be opened by those of his bloodline."

Professor Dumbledore thought about it for a moment. "Technically, I believe that any relics found on school property are considered property of the school. However, there are always ways around that," he declared. "If you were to, let's say, obtain a number of items sometime later today and never told me from whence they came… I would just have to assume that you came by them legally. If you close back any rooms you might open, and you're the only one who can open them… well then, there's never going to be an argument about it. As for the sword… I had a feeling that it might fall to you. I've never registered it as a recovered artifact. I've always considered it to be yours."

Harry seemed satisfied with the answer as he felt that it was going to be the best he could get. "Alright, then there's the matter of next semester. Fleur didn't get a chance to sit for her NEWTS last year, though I assure you that she's ready to take them. For that matter, I'm ready to take them. Since we refuse to be apart, that means we'll have to come up with a solution. I assure you that if we can't be together at Hogwarts, then we will be together elsewhere."

"Ready to take your NEWTS, Harry?" Dumbledore asked, absently, looking as though realization had finally set in. "I take it you were undergoing training in this temporally accelerated place, then?"

"From the very best, Professor, though I'll admit that we haven't had a whole lot of practical application of what we have learned, aside from mock duels. Still, I'm not really interested in taking OWL classes this year, if I can avoid it. I don't think I'm ready to go off fighting Voldemort or anything, so I'm asking for training, just not the stuff normally taught around here. If we could get some direct tutoring from the professors, I think that would be for the best, and maybe someone to duel us a little," Harry said, feeling quite bold for suggesting it.

"So… you've aged three years, gotten engaged, want to take your NEWTS, and want some advanced training?" Dumbledore said, recounting what was said, his brow furrowed in thought. "On top of Voldemort returning… it seems more has happened in the last two months than in the two years before. Except, of course, for the issue of the diary." Dumbledore fell silent for a few seconds and neither Harry nor Fleur thought it wise to disturb him as he appeared to be thinking.

After a while, he started talking again. "The NEWTs issue is perhaps the easiest to address. Considering Miss Delacour's unique situation, I believe we can get her tested rather soon, if that is your wish. As for you, Harry, the laws governing minors are rather convoluted. I shall have to check into them, but until you have either completed your fifth year of schooling and taken your OWLs or turned sixteen, the way forward may be bared to you. As for the tutoring," he paused again and the look on his face made it clear that he didn't think what he was about to say would be well received.

"There may be some issues if it becomes public knowledge," he said. "When I found out the fate of poor Elphias, I approached the Minister about it. He was rather emphatic that Voldemort could not possibly have returned. I, of course, proceeded to speak to others, including the head of magical law enforcement, but found some people remarkably predisposed not to believe me. A few days later, I found some rather unflattering things being printed about me in the Daily Prophet. There have even been rumblings in the Ministry about taking more control over Hogwarts. Thus, I fear that I am in the limelight and if I am seen giving special treatment… that will only hurt our cause in the long run. I feel that something can be arranged, however, but secrecy is going to be critical."

Harry listened intently to everything that Dumbledore said and nodded at appropriate parts. What he was hearing was worse than he'd hoped but better than he'd feared. "It is very important to us that we are able to be together on a regular basis. If Fleur could be enrolled as a student or you could find her a place on staff, then that would be best. If not… well, I'd really rather one of those things happen. On the training, again I have to say that a regular dueling partner or two are our highest priority. We have both gained a great deal of knowledge and skill, but we've only had the same opponents for the last three years so our experience is a little lacking. If… when we face Voldemort, we're going to need all the edge we can get."

The headmaster spent yet another long moment looking at Harry and seemed to decide something. "Harry, I had thought to shelter you for the next few years, to give you time to mature before thrusting you into a life or death struggle… based on this conversation, alone, I can see that you have already matured as far as necessary. Am I right in believing that you are ready to assume your role in this grand drama?"

Harry nodded slowly, more than a little surprised that Dumbledore was taking him seriously so easily. "I don't believe I have a choice, sir," he said, pointedly showing a little bit of respect to the man that he felt was going to be very important to this effort in the long run. "I don't agree with some of the things you've kept from me over the years, but I can understand why you made some of the decisions you did. I don't like them, but I can at least sympathize with the difficulty of your choices."

Dumbledore nodded, looking a little relieved, though whether if was from the half-forgiveness or the fact that he had assessed Harry's maturity correctly could not be easily determined. "Given that, I feel it would be in the best interest of everyone if the two of you were to join us in the Order of the Phoenix if you would. The Order is the group that your parents joined back during Voldemort's first rise to power in order to combat him. If, as I fear, you will have to attend school this next year, you will have some difficulty attending regular meetings, but I shall endeavor to make sure you are informed of what you need to know about."

"We will join, Professor," Fleur said, stepping into the conversation fully for the first time. "We wish for nothing more than to live simple lives together, but it is obvious that we will not have that luxury until this Dark Lord has been removed. We could go off on our own and stand a small chance of success… or we can take the help that you offer. I do warn you that our trust is a fragile thing. 'Arry is forgiving you much, given what I know of his childhood. I am not so quick to forgive, but I will set aside my misgivings for the sake of everyone."

Dumbledore nodded again, his eyes seeming to take in Fleur for the first time. He studied her in a fashion similar to the way he studied Harry and then nodded. "As fierce as a lioness, Miss Delacour," he said with a soft chuckle. "I see that Harry has made a good match in you. Were he not such an evil man, I might almost feel sorry for Tom should he try to stand in your way."

Suddenly, the old man clapped his hands. "Well, that is enough chatter, for now. We have talked the evening away and I believe that midnight nears. I have a number of things to look into and a number of people to speak with. If you two wish to explore the castle and find a bed for the night, the student dormitories have all had their passwords set to 'Luminos'. Madam Pomfrey has been kind enough floo in from her vacation a few times today to examine the two of you and will meet you in the hospital wing at nine in the morning for your last examination. Miss Delacour, your mother should arrive a little before lunch, as well, if she was able to schedule a trip on the first international portkey from France. I will see you tomorrow afternoon once I have completed my initial investigations. Until then, I bid you both good night."

The two bonded lovers rose and said polite goodbyes before heading out the door and toward Gryffindor tower to find a place to sleep.

… **BREAK …**

The next morning, Harry nuzzled his fiancé lightly until she awoke, smiling at him. They'd transfigured a couple of the four poster beds in the boys' dormitory together and settled into that. They shared a brief, chaste kiss because of the presence of morning breath, and went off to separate showers. During the night, a house elf had apparently brought them each a clean set of robes, which they threw on over the Muggle clothes that Harry had created from the hospital pajamas. A quick cleaning charm freshened the transfigured clothes enough to get another full day of wear out of them, which was good considering their relative lack of options.

They spent a few minutes stretching out before tromping down the stairs. Harry led the way over to one of the torch sconces along the wall, conjuring a small needle and pricked his thumb. He smeared a fat droplet of blood across the bottom of the sconce and the metal seemed to drink it up. There was a pause and then a section of wall began to slide back and away to the left. By the time the door had finished opening, the pinprick had already healed and Harry vanished his needle before leading the way into the corridor beyond.

"There isn't any dust," Fleur noted, looking past her mate warily.

"Probably the house elves," Harry replied. "They're good about finding places that need cleaning. I doubt anyone else could have gotten in here since Jovan left."

Fleur nodded, though Harry more sensed it than saw it, and placed a hand on his shoulder as both a comfort and an urging to proceed.

The corridor ahead curved sharply after a few feet and stairs spiraled down. They followed these for a couple of flights only to find themselves faced with a large oak door. The door sprang open even before Harry's hand touched it, revealing to them a large set of rooms beyond.

"Well, Gadralla always struck me as a woman with good taste," Harry muttered, mostly to himself. The rooms were truly well decorated in rich crimson and sparkling gold. Gryffindor lions were used as a motif on much of the room, but there were also sections of diving eagles which both of them knew to be Gadralla's family totem.

"I wish we could live in here," Fleur said soft, her hand squeezing Harry's shoulder. "It's nice and so very private."

Harry turned to grin at her and placed his hand on hers, giving it a squeeze. "We'll find privacy when we can, luv. I don't intend to neglect you."

"You'd better not," she said, slinking closer to him and wrapping him in her arms. "I am, what is the phrase… oh yes, I am high maintenance."

He twisted in her grasp and brought his lips to hers for a kiss. One kiss turned into two and then three, but they broke apart after that. They hadn't come down here to snog, after all.

The main room in which they found themselves was a sitting room. Five doors lead out, and a little exploration revealed two bedrooms, connected to each other by another door between them, a smaller room which looked unused but might have been used as a nursery at one point, a large workroom, and modest study with several shelves of books.

"The stuff we're looking for should be in the workroom," Harry noted, and they concentrated their searching there. The prototype Weapon was easy enough to find, as it was in a rack at the front of the room with an assortment of other weapons with unknown properties. "Wonder what the rest of these are?"

"Probably more prototypes and the like," Fleur said as she nicked her finger with a conjured blade, dripped a little blood on the right gem, and tapped her wand to the gem. The wand vanished into the metal and Fleur sent it to wrap around her wrist as an ornate bracelet. "The two of them really were geniuses… but if they didn't mention it to us, I don't know that I want to go messing with it."

Harry nodded in agreement and they searched the rest of the room for the ring, to no avail. Eventually, they found it on the desk in the study and Harry scooped it up before Fleur could touch it. She reached for it when he didn't immediately hand it over and he just smiled at her and stuffed it into his pocket. She glared at him, but he just smiled and said, "I'm going to put it on your finger properly, luv. Just be patient."

"But what if I don't want to be patient?" she asked, though Harry could read her well enough to know that she would relent.

"Well, you'll have to be in any case," he said gently and stole a quick kiss. "Now, we'd best get to the Hospital Wing before Madam Pomfrey comes looking for us."

… **BREAK …**

"I believe, Mr. Potter, that you are either the luckiest or the unluckiest person I have ever met," the matronly mediwitch declared as she performed a diagnostic charm on Harry. Fleur had already had the same treatment, and watched him getting prodded with a faint smirk.

"Maybe I just, ouch," he paused to grunt as he was poked with a wand, but it didn't make his roguish grin falter. "Maybe I just really like you and keep making excuses to visit?"

Madam Pomfrey laughed and continued her work. "You know, if you wish to stop by for a spot of tea, I wouldn't object. It would certainly be a better idea than getting yourself caught up in any more major magical events." She waved her wand a few more times and straightened up. "Well, there you go. You're perfectly healthy. Better than perfect, actually. Whatever happened to you certainly seems to have agreed with you. One hundred and sixty percent increase in muscle mass and a twelve percent increase in height is quite impressive. Not to mention the hair, the eyes… you must tell me your secret some day."

Harry blushed at the catalogue of his changes. "Fresh air and sunshine," he declared, knowing full well that he wasn't going to tell the mediwitch what was really going on. While he was enjoying joking with her, she was still his nemesis in many ways, and who knows what kind of tests she'd want to run if she found out he'd spent the last month and a half in a temporally accelerated dream world.

"I'm certain that's it, Mr. Potter," she replied in a monotone. "Now, off with you two. I believe that Madame Delacour is due to arrive any minute now. She'll probably be walking up from Hogsmeade."

Harry resisted the urge to make another cheeky comment and allowed himself to be seized by his mate who was apparently quite eager to see her mother. Harry kept up with her easily as they headed for the entrance hall, sparing only a little of his thought toward lamenting the fact that he didn't have any family to miss like that. As soon as the thought formed, he realized that he did have Sirius and would really like to see him. That thought was filed away in his big "ask Dumbledore" bin as they rounded the corner and went down the last staircase to the large double doors that served as the primary entrance to the school.

"So… do you think she'll like me?" Harry asked, voicing the thought that had been occupying the rest of his mind for the walk down.

"Of course, 'Arry. I love you, and that should be enough for her," Fleur said so matter-of-factly that Harry had to smile. "Besides, she is part-Veela. If anything, she will be jealous that I found a Bondmate."

"Oh," Harry said, tightening his grip on her hand. "Do you think we should go down to meet her?" he asked, still a little nervous.

Fleur was spared from answering as the door opened and her mother stepped in followed by a short blond girl that Harry immediately recognized as Gabrielle. Madame Delacour paused for only a second before rushing forward to envelope her daughter and future son-in-law in a massive hug. Gabrielle followed, a good deal more reserved, though she offered hugs as well. After a few greetings, the group retreated to Gryffindor tower so that they might speak in peace.

While Madame Delacour was asking Fleur for all of the details of the bonding in rapid-fire French, Harry placed a number of privacy and security charms on the common room and then settled in beside his mate. Fleur and Harry fielded questions from the still-beautiful older Veela as best they could about what had occurred over the last three years and then talk quickly came to the present.

"Fleur, what are you going to do now? When will you be having the wedding?" the older woman asked in French, and Fleur looked at Harry for an answer. Harry was glad that she was taking the subject so well, though it seemed that Bonding and marriage were synonymous to the Veela, so any ceremony was only a formality.

"Madame, I'm not certain what will be happening next. We'd like to have the wedding as soon as possible, but I may still be considered underage. If I'm not… well, as soon as it can be planned would suit me. As for our plans… well, we intend to stay together, whatever happens. There are also certain issues which may require our presence in England for a while," Harry replied in the same language, not feeling confident that he should reveal the role they would have to play in the downfall of Voldemort.

"You are not coming back to France?" she asked, looking at her daughter with obvious disappointment. "What are these issues?"

Fleur looked more than a little guilty as she answered her mother, "Voldemort. He's back and we're destined to be part of the war with him. It's part of being Bonded."

Harry realized that Fleur was trying to tell her mother enough to satisfy her without compromising their safety. He decided to help a little. "What Fleur means is that our bonding was very public, at least for those who understood the signs of it. When he finds out about it, we're probably going to be pretty high on his list of targets just because of what we are. If we don't help with the effort to stop him, then he's likely to build up power. In the short term, we'd be safer away from here, but in the long term, it would be worse."

To Harry's surprise, Fleur's mother simply sighed. "I knew something like this might occur. The legends of the Bonded always speak of the great things that they were involved in." She again rose and hugged first Fleur and then Harry in turn. "I want you two to be as safe as you can. No taking risks if you can avoid it, okay?"

Both of the young adults nodded their heads and Madame Delacour smiled. "Now, we simply must discuss the details of the wedding for a while to clear these negative thoughts away."

Fleur smiled and talk did turn to the wedding. Gabrielle contributed little to the conversation and spent most of her time looking at Harry and Fleur with a mix of happiness and sadness. Harry could understand both emotions as Fleur had told him of her sister's crush on him and the deep bond the two sisters shared. Gabrielle was happy that her sister was happy, but also sad that she was losing her. The talk went on for a while, though, as Fleur tried to describe her ideal wedding. The scale would be small, by necessity, and private, but elegant as well.

Harry listened, though there weren't many things for him to comment on. Instead, he let his thoughts drift to the coming meeting with Dumbledore. If things went well, the old man would earn a lot of trust from Harry. If they didn't… well, it was best not to think about such things.

… **CHAPTER BREAK …**

**Author's Notes: **First off, I want to say a big thank you to everyone that reviewed. Your response was overwhelming and, well, thank you. I also want to thank those folks who gave me some constructive criticism. The biggest thing I heard complained about (which, oddly enough, I also got a few compliments on) was the compression of chapter 3. As you've just read chapter 4, I hope you'll notice that the compression was just for chapter 3.

I agree that there was a lot in chapter 3 that could have been expanded. Many authors would have made several chapters out of what I covered in 3 (some a whole lot of chapters), but I chose to be quick about it. My reasons are simple. I feel that writing long training sequences will bore me and it's definitely something that's "already been done". There are a lot of great "Harry gets trained" fics out there (and even more bad ones, but that's neither here nor there), but that's not what this fic is supposed to be about. As we get into the real story (Harry's return to reality), I'm focusing more on the characters and events.

Again, thanks to everyone for reviewing and please drop me a review if you like (or don't like) this chapter. Well constructed criticism is always welcome as it only helps me improve, but don't feel compelled to find something to complain about if you don't have any complains.

Of course, I want to thank my betas on this chapter who helped me more than they probably know, ValorOrgulloso and Achalon.


	5. Induction

**Summary: **HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**Last Chapter: **Fleur's desperate plan nets her much more than she bargained for when she finds a connection with Harry that is only spoken of in legend. The two wind up spending three (subjective) years in a dream world, though only six weeks have passed in reality. There, one of Harry's ancestors trained the pair in many ancient magics and arts, but eventually that time came to a close. After the pair have returned to reality, the story continues…

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 5: Induction**

Madame Delacour had left the pair to rest while she and Gabrielle went to find a room at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Though Harry felt he should have offered to ask Dumbledore if they could stay in the castle, he didn't really want his fiancé's mother being too close to the two of them at that moment and left it unsaid. Fleur didn't look too disappointed when her family left, either, and rounded on Harry, taking him into her arms and kissing him soundly.

"What's that for?" he asked, though he wasn't really complaining.

"For being so well behaved while we talked of girly things. I know most men could care less about wedding details…" she said, her smile soft and light.

"Oh, well… I just want to make you happy. I really don't care too much about them right now, but that's just because there's still so much uncertainty. We don't know enough to really make solid plans or anything, yet," he said, giving her a kiss of his own. "And if I get invested in wedding plans, I definitely want them to happen."

She grinned and leaned in to kiss him again, but stopped as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Sensing that something was up, Harry moved back and they disentangled themselves only to find that a house elf had appeared and was waiting, nervously, for them to see him.

"Professor Dumblydor is askin' yous to see him in his office," the elf said, his English a little better than what Harry had come to expect from Dobby.

Harry gave the elf a nod. "We will be there momentarily. Thank you for finding us."

The elf gave a small bow and vanished, leaving the two Bonded alone again. "We'd best go see what the old man has found out," Harry declared.

… **BREAK …**

Some time later, Harry and Fleur were again seated in the headmaster's office, watching as Professor Dumbledore flipped through a small stack of parchment. He finished quickly and addressed the waiting pair. "Miss Delacour, I trust your mother was able to find you?" At a nod, he continued. "Good. Then on to what I have determined."

"First of all, Miss Delacour will be able to take her N.E.W.T.s beginning tomorrow and running for three days. If you do well on your Defense N.E.W.T., Miss Delacour, I would like to extend to you an offer to teach our Defense Against the Dark Arts classes this coming year. I would not normally make an offer to one so young, but your performance in the Tri-Wizard Tournament did not go unnoticed and it should serve to override any protests that the Board of Governors may have. There is also the fact that one of my agents has informed me that Minister Fudge has every intention of forcing a candidate of his choosing into the position if it has not been filled by the end of the month. I would prefer a young and untested Professor to one that the Minister has selected for us, given his recent animosity," he said, his grandfatherly demeanor firmly in place once more, though Harry clearly detected an undercurrent of "senior statesman". He seemed to have made a full recovery from the previous evening's tiring discussion and was feeling in charge again.

"That would be acceptable to me, Professor. I take it that Harry will have to attend as a student this coming year?" she asked.

"Indeed. I have asked those who would know and there is little to be done on the matter. All wizards and witches are required by law to attend at least five years of schooling or tutelage by a licensed magician and take the O.W.L.s before being allowed to practice magic. Even students which are taught at home are subject to these rules as their parents are generally considered to be their tutors. Anyone who can not comply with this is required to surrender their wand and is not allowed to purchase a new one. There is no provision for temporal acceleration in the current body of law, I'm afraid." He watched Harry closely as he delivered this news, but the young man simply nodded along.

"That is pretty much what I expected, though not what I'd hoped for," Harry said. "Might not the private tutoring be a better solution, Professor?"

Dumbledore, apparently having learned from the previous evening, shook his head gently, "That option has occurred to me, as well. The law allows tutelage only by parents or licensed tutors. This late in the year, there are few licensed tutors who have not been committed elsewhere, and those that remain are… less than stellar. Remus Lupin might be able to fill that role, but I feel that you'll be able to avail yourselves of his knowledge even if you attend Hogwarts. Instead, I feel you will be best served here."

Harry nodded, though he kept the satisfaction he felt off of his face. Dumbledore had obviously learned a lesson the previous night and not only took him seriously, but addressed his concerns in a logical manner. "That sounds acceptable to me. How about the marriage issue? Will we be able to wed?"

"There is a provision in the law that allows wizards to marry as young as fourteen, with the proper permissions. However, as you are the last surviving Potter, I'm afraid that it does not apply to you. Because of the potential for fraud and coercion of young nobles, the marriage age for you is still set at sixteen in the wizarding world." Harry frowned, but Dumbledore pressed on. "You will note that I said the wizarding world. It is also true in the Muggle world, but there is another world that views things differently. I believe that among the goblins, the two of you are already considered married by the strong bond that exists between you. Their own marriage rites, while not the same, are quite similar in effect, though I doubt they reap as many benefits. This is important because that may also lead to the goblins considering you to be adults. If that is the case, then you had best see the executor of the Potter estate, a Mr. Slipclaw, at Gringotts within the next week. I believe that he will likely allow you access to the full estate left by your parents."

"The full estate?" Harry asked, truly surprised for the first time that morning. "You mean, there are components to it aside from the money in my vault?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said his face downcast with gentle sadness. "Your grandfather on your father's side was a masterful enchanter. He made an already well-off family quite wealthy during his lifetime. If I understand correctly, your parents barely touched those assets during their lives and it should all go to you upon reaching adulthood. As I feel the goblins will think you have reached that, it should all default to you now. There are also some personal effects from your parents retained by the estate, which I am certain you would like to have."

"This," Harry began but quickly ground to a halt as he tried to reign in his emotions. "Why didn't you tell me of this earlier?"

"Harry… I am afraid that I didn't tell you of your wealth for a number of reasons. The first is that while you didn't know about it, it would be in no danger from your Muggle relatives. I trusted Petunia with your well being, but her husband is not a man I would trust with money. Secondly… I did not wish you to feel like you could spend your money too freely. I know you have faced many problems because of your fame and that you would not have wanted to feel the temptation to buy friends."

Harry listened to this, still practicing his Occlumency as best he could to keep his emotions under control. "I understand that, I guess. I definitely agree with the first part. Uncle Vernon would have had every last knut of it if he'd known, even if only to deny it to me. As for the second… I would like to think I would not have given in to that temptation, but I would agree that there have been several times in my Hogwarts career that I might have had real trouble with that. I've never suffered for only having only what is in my vault. If I'd known there was more, I might have been less thrifty with it." Under the iron control of his mental discipline, it was easier to find the logic in things and not to give in to blind reactions. If he didn't have it, Harry felt certain he would have blown up something by that point. While he didn't appreciate having things hidden, Harry was a little bit grateful that he didn't have the chance to turn out like Malfoy, though he didn't think any amount of money would have made him like the ferret.

"But, speaking of my Aunt and Uncle, what happens with them now? I will not be returning to their care, and I do not wish them to have a legal hold over me," Harry continued, channeling his general annoyance into something constructive.

"There is no need for that, I am afraid. Shortly after you and Miss Delacour entered your… cocoon, the wards surrounding Privet Drive failed. One of the conditions of the wards, in the first place, was that you had to consider the place home of a sort. I believe you must have come to think of somewhere else as home or else the absence of your spirit simply deprived them of the connection they needed to work. You still bear the residual protection your mother left you, but it is of more limited scope. Dissolving their legal hold is somewhat more problematic, but as you have reached the age of fifteen, I would not expect a wizarding court to hear any claims placed by Muggles against the last scion of the House of Potter. I feel that they may be safely ignored, and I am sure that they would be glad to do much the same in return."

"In fact, there are a few legal matters in the wizarding world, aside from where ages are specifically regulated, such as with underaged magic and Apparition licensing, that you would not be considered competent to look after yourself. If the goblins do recognize you as an adult, you will even have some limited options there once you have completed your O.W.L.s. However, that is beyond the scope of our current discussion as your O.W.L.s are a year away," the professor finished.

"So… I'm going to be stuck at Hogwarts all year; I can't get married till next summer; I can't use magic out of school or Apparate; and I can't be truly free of the Dursleys for a couple more years? But I'm more wealthy than I thought, will get to spend next year with Fleur, and don't actually have to go back to Surry for the remainder of the summer? I'm not sure how I feel about all this," he said, truthfully. He was half up and half down on the situation, but knew there wasn't much he could do.

"It will be alright, 'Arry," Fleur murmured to him, squeezing his hand in hers.

"Yes, Professor," he said, flashing her a lopsided grin and lacing his fingers with hers. Showing her great maturity, Fleur stuck her tongue out at him and giggled. Dumbledore just watched the exchange; a twitch at the corner of one of his eyes the only indication that he was a little worried about having such a young teacher.

"There are a few more major items," the headmaster said, interrupting them. "Firstly, your appearances. Do you have a reliable method for appearing younger? I fear it would not be wise for the truth of what you two have experienced to become known. Even if Voldemort eventually discovers what you have undergone, which I feel likely, so little information exists on the process that hiding the details would still be to out advantage. If nothing else, Severus may be able to brew an age regression potion, but those tend to be fickle and may have side effects."

Harry shuddered at the thought of letting Snape brew him something that could have side effects as he was sure the git would ensure that Harry had every single one. "That shouldn't be necessary, Professor. We know a few glamour charms that should do the job, so long as no one strips them off of us. We can overpower them enough that only a handful of people should be able to dispel them without doing the specific countercharms, and that's unlikely, at best."

"That will probably suffice, Harry. If either of you wish to go out aside from the trips Miss Delacour will need to make to take her N.E.W.T.s, I do ask that you inform me so that a member of the Order may accompany you. Even under a disguise, it is better to have assistance in case of a crisis," the headmaster said and Harry didn't actually feel offended by his protectiveness for once. He was coming to feel that it was well intentioned, though often misplaced.

"On the matter of your education, the staff will be more than able to teach Miss Delacour as she will be a fellow member of the faculty. If she could then teach you, Harry, that would be for the best as it would allay many suspicions. I will see that you are excused from written homework so that you have the time to do so. On the weekends, there should be a little more latitude for direct tutoring sessions, and I may be able to bring in a few outside experts to assist us. Alastor Moody, the real one, is coming to see you a little after this meeting. He will gauge your dueling ability before we decide on exactly how we need to proceed. You'll meet him at three in the Great Hall." This elicited another nod from the two young adults.

"On the matter of the Order, I have called a meeting tonight and would like for the two of you to attend. There will no doubt be some pushback on inducting you and I wish for you to be able to speak for yourselves. In fact, consider it a test of your abilities, if you will. If you are able to convince both Severus and Molly Weasley that you belong in the Order, then you truly do. I would suggest you wear your glamour charms to the meeting, as well, as I expect a number of your school friends to be in residence if not in attendance. You may need to reveal yourselves to the Order, but the Order's secrets are protected by a number of charms and oaths which make it a fairly secure group to speak to. A brief stop in Diagon Alley for some new clothes might also be well advised. Wear disguises and take Alastor with you, as he will already be here and can show you to headquarters afterward," he said and the pair nodded.

"That does bring up one last thing of major import," the headmaster said, growing serious again. "While I feel that it may be necessary for you to share some of what you have experienced with your friends, there are things that should not become public knowledge. Primarily, I speak of your relationship. While at Hogwarts, you will need to keep knowledge of the fact that you are together to a minimum. Harry, your friends may know, but only because I feel that Ms. Granger would figure it out fairly quickly, anyway. Some of the faculty will also have to know, though we will keep that knowledge fairly restricted. Otherwise, tell only those you must and please consult me any time you feel the need."

Dumbledore pulled a piece of parchment and a quill from his desk drawer and scrawled something on it in tiny lettering. "Harry, I am sure you are familiar with the Fidelus charm. I am the secretkeeper for one such charm." He showed them the note, carefully shielding it with a cupped hand so that it could only be viewed from a very specific angle. The two of them were forced to lean forward to read the lettering, but when they had, they knew the location of the Order's headquarters. Dumbledore folded the parchment and ignited it with a wave of his wand, leaving only ash behind which he proceeded to vanish. "Your canine friend is also there, Harry, and I think he would rather like to see you."

Harry's eyes widened slightly as one of his remaining questions was answered and he nodded. "I've missed the old dog," he said, not elaborating. Even in the headmaster's office, it didn't pay to speak of some secrets openly. Fleur knew about Sirius, of course, though she didn't quite pick up on the hidden conversation going on in front of her.

"Now, if there is nothing else that we can address for the moment," Dumbledore said, rising from his desk, "I need to see to a few things that must be completed before the start of the term. Miss Delacour, if you could spare the time this week to select a Defense book for the year, I would appreciate it greatly. You might consult with Alastor or Remus Lupin as both of them have given much thought to the subject in the last few years. Now, I wish you good luck and I will see you tonight."

Before leaving, Harry claimed the Weapon of Gryffindor from its case and performed the binding, which Dumbledore watched with interest. He shaped it into a ring, and the weight of it around his right middle finger made him feel just a little safer.

… **BREAK …**

During the summer, the Great Hall was generally clear. The house tables were lined up along the long walls with the benches stacked atop of them. Being a little early, Harry and Fleur took a seat on what would normally have been the Ravenclaw table and settled in to wait for Alastor. As both of them had been taught by his imposter the year before, they were more than a little wary of what he might attempt to do to them. After all, "imposter" implied that he was acting a lot like the original.

"He'll probably try to surprise us," Harry said in a low voice as he quietly brought up the magic to view magical auras. It wasn't very draining but took a bit of concentration to maintain and walking through Hogwarts with it on had given him a bit of a headache the night before. The entire ceiling lit up with magical glows as did most of the rest of the room, to one degree or another, but there was not the telltale signs of someone invisible or disillusioned.

Fleur nodded by way of response and willed her ring back into a wand shape. "Wonder if he'll try to take us both at once? That would be… silly of him."

Harry offered her a sly grin. "Sounds exactly like him, actually. I don't think he's aware of the extent of our summer training."

Fleur nodded again and inclined her head intentionally at one of the side doors which was sliding closed very quietly. "So, what do you think we'll do tonight?" she asked in a louder voice.

Harry easily spotted the disillusioned outline of the retired Auror as he slipped into the room under a number of stealth charms. "Oh, I suspect there will be some yelling and some ranting, but it'll work out in the end," he said, aware that they were in an insecure area and any real discussion would be foolhardy. Instead, the pair of them waited for Moody to get closer and line up the shot. "You think we could pull a nine twelve three six? That might make things easier."

"Maybe. Might be a little disorienting, though," Fleur replied in a softer voice. The pattern of numbers was significant as it referred to the numbers on a clock. Specifically, the two of them would flicker-Apparate around their foe at first the nine and twelve positions, fire a spell, and then flicker to the three and six positions. This should allow them to take down a foe not expecting the attack quickly by striking from four different directions in rapid succession. "We can try it. Reds?"

"Of course," Harry replied, acknowledging that they should use stunning spells. "Right about… now."

As Alastor raised his wand to cast his first spell, Harry and Fleur hopped to their feet and vanished. Fleur landed dead behind him and tagged him with a wordless stunner while Harry pulled his wand up at the last second, not wanting to doubly stun him. They were used to dueling with Jovan and Gadralla, who, as all Bonded, had a low level of magic resistance that, while it wouldn't protect to any serious extent, did blunt the edges of most spell damage a little. It wasn't enough that they'd want to intentionally take a hit from a spell, but it could spell the difference between unconscious for a minute and unconscious for thirty seconds. As Harry and Fleur were both accustomed to overcoming that resistance, they tended to cast quite hard and doubling up two overcast stunners on a normal human might do physical harm.

Cautiously, they summoned his wand and set it to floating in the air behind them as they approached his downed form. Surprisingly, the Auror really was down, and it took a Rennervate to revive him.

Moody growled as he saw the two youngsters hovering above him, grinning, and struggled to his feet. "Tricky ones ain't cha?" he growled, though it was a respectful sort of growl. "Alright, then. Albus wanted me to evaluate the two of you, an' you passed the first bit of it. Of course, you knew I was comin' and you knew me, so I'd have expected nothing less. That vanishing trick you two pulled, though, pretty impressive. Even had my eye fooled."

Neither Harry nor Fleur thought it wise to tell him what they'd actually done and they just grinned and nodded.

"Alright, Potter, a straight up duel, then. No fancy vanishing acts or anything, I need to get a grasp on your true skill level." With that, the grizzled ex-Auror hobbled to the center of the room, down toward the Professors' table, and raised his wand in the traditional dueling ready position. Harry shrugged and came forward, raising his wand in a similar fashion.

The two faced off for a moment before Moody flicked his wand and sent a series of quick, relatively minor, hexes zooming at Harry. Harry dove to the side, and retaliated with a barrage of his own. They glanced off Moody's shield and Harry was forced to dodge again as one of his own spells, a mid-grade stunner, came hurtling back toward him.

They traded several waves of mild stunners, stinging hexes, and binding curses, both doing a good job of deflecting or dodging them. Occasionally, one of them would throw a conjuration spell to make the floor slick or to put up a wall of stone as a shield, but these were all quickly countered and did not change the fight very much. The fact that Harry had only recently been released from the Hospital Wing and the headache he had from seeing too much magic began to show on him and he slowed. Moody quickly dropped the stinging hexes and increased the strength of his stunning spells.

Harry started blocking spells more often than dodging them as he flagged and the battering his shielding spells were taking started to drain him. Harry felt confident that he could overcome Moody in a serious fight, at the level he was now fighting, but he also had a feeling that if it were a serious fight, Moody would be on another level entirely. This was just an evaluation and neither was showing a broad range of spells or any killing intent.

Eventually, Harry tried a dodge that went wrong and got stunned. Moody, looking quite winded, hobbled over and revived him, looking even more respectful than before. "Good showin', lad. I get a feelin' that you were holdin' back out there."

"You were, too," Harry noted, accepting a hand with getting to his feet. "Do I pass?"

"Aye, you pass," he wheezed. "You need a little more polish and you need to work on using a wider variety of spells in a fight, but you're well trained. Is your lady friend the same?" Harry nodded and Moody continued. "Well, that's good enough for me, then. I'll give Albus the report tonight."

"Speaking of that, will you come with us around Diagon Alley? We need to make a few quick stops before this evening, and the headmaster insists we have an escort. We'll be disguised, of course," he said and waved his wand without bothering to use an actual spell, instead willing his appearance to alter to something closer to his natural appearance, but aged about twenty years with blue eyes and brown hair going to grey.

"Aye, lad, let's go then."

Fleur joined them and they took the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

… **BREAK …**

Dealing with the goblins had been both fast and easy. They did, in fact, appear willing to accept Harry's Bonding as proof of adulthood and scheduled a meeting with him for the following evening to dispense with the necessary paperwork related to assuming control of his assets. A quick visit to his trust vault served to provide some funds and the trio soon found their way into Madame Malkin's shop, looking at robes and cloaks.

Since both Fleur and Harry appeared very similar to their normal body types, they did not arouse suspicion as they were fitted and they left the shop a little before six with a few new outfits each, including the deep green robes and hooded cloaks they had chosen for that night. Gadralla had taught them a billowing charm that would add a little flare and make them more imposing which Harry intended to use, if only to annoy Snape. He'd asked Moody and been informed that the Ministry wouldn't be able to detect magic use in a building protected by a Fidellus charm. For that matter, Moody hinted that areas of high magical activity, like Diagon Alley, were impossible to track for underage magic, as well, though most children were deterred by watching adults who could and would report children they spotted doing things they shouldn't.

Fleur insisted on stopping in to Flourish and Blotts to collect a number of Defense texts so that she could decide on what to teach the next year. Moody was happy to help her with some advice as he'd selected the previous year's text before he'd been taken out and replaced. As his imposter had done a fair job of covering the material, however, a new text wasn't a bad idea. She ended up with three candidates which she purchased using a little bit of Harry's money. Harry spent his time back in the darker recesses of the shop, though he was careful to finish up and hide his purchases before Fleur got to the counter.

That done, the trio departed the alley for Muggle London and caught a bus. They rode the bus for three stops and then caught a cab. Once the cab dropped them off, they walked down an alleyway and got on another bus, and eventually ended up on Grimmauld Place. At Moody's instruction, they concentrated on what they'd been shown earlier and number twelve pushed its way into being between number ten and number fourteen. They looked around to make sure they weren't being followed and approached the door, Moody drawing his wand and tapping it once.

There was a clicking and clattering noise as a number of locks released and the door creaked open. The three of them pushed inside and Harry raised his wand, looking at Moody in question. The grizzled ex-Auror nodded and Harry waved it, changing his disguise to be that of his younger self. He produced his battered old glasses from a pocket, removed the lenses, and placed them on his nose to complete the look. Fleur didn't change her disguise; however, knowing it was probably better that none of Harry's friends saw her in attendance. They had shared only a few words about the topic and were still undecided if letting Ron and Hermione in on their relationship at this point was wise.

Harry started to ask where everyone was, but Moody raised a finger to his lips, pointing to a curtained section of wall. He slashed in his air with his wand and wrote: Don't wake up the painting. Harry nodded in acceptance if not understanding, and the group of them crept in the dim gaslight toward the door at the far end of the hall. They moved inside to find it a rather old and dark kitchen, though anything that looks like it could have been clean was.

Molly Weasley was in the midst of going through the cabinets while a large pot boiled on the stove. She looked over when the door clicked shut behind the trip and started before her eyes lit on Harry. "Oh, Harry!" she cried, rushing forward to take him up in an embrace.

Had he still been the small waif of a few objective months ago, Harry would have struggled for breath in her grasp. As it was, he managed to return the hug, somewhat, as he waited for the matronly older woman to release him. After a few minutes, she pulled back and started talking.

"Oh, Harry, we've all been so worried. You gave us quite a scare, getting all wrapped up in that green thing like that. The headmaster told us you were fine, but it's hard not to worry." Harry realized that he'd never actually asked about what it looked like to everyone in the real world when they'd been stuck in those egg-things. For that matter, he'd never found out who pulled them off the rocky beach and got them to the Hospital Wing, though he assumed that it was a member of the Order Dumbledore had spoken of. He didn't want to know if it'd been Filch. Certain things were best left undiscovered.

"Missed you, too," he managed to get out, feeling a little winded from all the squeezing. Fortunately, his glamour provided a tactile as well as visual disguise and she hadn't noticed how much larger than normal he was when she touched him. "Is everyone here?"

"Oh, yes," she looked up at Moody. "Dumbledore's here. He said the meeting should start in the next half hour or so. About half the rest are here, as well." She turned back to Harry and went on. "Ron, Hermione, and Ginny are all upstairs with Fred and George. I'll show you up."

Harry could already feel the impending doom that was waiting for him in the Order meeting. Molly had already assumed that he had no place there, and he'd only said a handful of words to her. Deciding that Dumbledore had not set him an easy test, he didn't allow himself to be led along. "Sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I need to go see Professor Dumbledore. He told us this afternoon that he wanted us in the meeting."

Molly's protest was forestalled as she discovered another, more urgent, question. "We? Oh, I hadn't noticed, dear, I'm sorry." She turned to Fleur and offered her a smile and a handshake. "I'm Molly Weasley. Who might you be? Are you here for the meeting, as well?"

Fleur smiled and nodded, clearly enjoying how much easier of a time she was having as compared to Harry. "Yes, the headmaster invited me along. Had Mr. Moody here escort me and 'Ar-Mr. Potter from the school. It was quite nice of him, really. I think it is best to wait for the meeting before we do our introductions. There are things that I do not wish to discuss twice."

Barely resisting the urge to give his fiancé a kick in the shin for leaving him afloat, Harry settled on sticking his tongue out at her from behind Molly's back. Alastor noticed and chuckled to himself as he watched the byplay.

"Well then, let's get in there," the older man growled, pulling Harry along with him. Fleur followed in their wake leaving Molly Weasley standing and trying to decide if she should further try to bar Harry's passage. Once they were away from her a bit, he lowered his voice and growled to Harry. "Sorry, 'bout that. Forgot she'd be in the kitchen. I just hate goin' through the front door when I know there's goin' to be people in a room."

Harry grunted, accepting the apology, though the fact that the half-mad man was grinning didn't help him believe it was genuine.

Soon enough, the three of them were in the room which had been converted to a meeting room for the Order. Harry was again tackled, though this time it was by Sirius, as Moody went off to sit near Professor Dumbledore. There were half a dozen other people in the room, including Arthur Weasley, Severus Snape, a young lady with bright purple hair, a bald black man, a young witch with rosy cheeks and dark hair, and a rather disheveled middle-aged man who looked quite shifty.

Fleur stood a bit back and watched as Harry and Sirius hugged. He could tell from their bond that she was amused, and he was sure that his own happiness and irritation bled through to her, as well.

"Great to see you, pup. The headmaster said you'd come out of that thing you were in and would be here tonight, but I didn't dare to hope…" It was then that Harry realized exactly how lonely Sirius must be, these days, if he was still on the run. He also realized that the house he was in must belong to Sirius, as he didn't think anyone else in the Order would own such a grim residence. Sirius probably didn't like it, but Harry knew his family had been dark and this would probably have been their idea of "homey".

"I'm here, Sirius," Harry said, in a low soothing voice. Truth be told, he really did miss the old mutt and hugging him now was second only to hugging Fleur in terms of comfort. "I missed you, too. What's been going on? Are you cleared yet?"

Sirius's face immediately pinched as he frowned, "No, Fudge isn't ready to admit that his administration had a hand in putting an innocent man in Azkaban for that long. It'll probably take a new Minister before I have any hope of being free."

"Do you want me to get rid of him for you, then?" Harry asked, smiling. In truth, it was only half in jest. If Fudge was the cause of pain to one of the few people Harry could honestly say he cared for, then there was little he wouldn't do to remove that threat.

Sirius laughed, not realizing that the offer was real and shook his head. "No, Harry, I'll just wait it out. At the rate things are going… well, You-Know-Who will probably take care of him in short order."

"I hope not," Harry said, his face becoming still and serious. "I would rather things not get that bad."

Growing serious, as well, Sirius nodded and said with distaste, "Yeah… some jokes aren't as funny as they used to be." He shook his head and pulled Harry toward a bank of empty seats near one end of the table. Fleur followed along and took a seat on the opther side of Harry, her faint smirk still in place.

"So, tell me, how did you wrangle an invitation to the meeting? The Weasley kids have been going insane wanting in on these things. Don't know why, though, seeing as they're mostly dead boring."

Harry grinned and tapped the side of his nose with the side of his finger. "Oh, I've got my ways. You'll find out in a bit… wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

Sirius just grinned all the wider. "Oh, I like surprises," he said, and then seemed to notice Fleur. "Who's the lady, Harry? Friend of yours?"

Again, Harry just gave him a knowing smile. "Something like that. We'll cover that after the meeting. We may have to cover it during the meeting if things go badly. Who are these people, anyway?" he asked, changing the subject quickly.

Sirius pointed out the others in the room and supplied names for Harry. The bald black man was Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror. The girl with purple hair was Nymphadora Tonks, another Auror and Sirius's cousin. The young witch with dark hair was Hestia Jones, and the shifty looking man was Mundungus 'Dung' Fletcher. Bill Weasley had joined the group a little farther in and Harry was fairly surprised to see him, as the last he'd heard he was in Egypt.

Professor McGonagall and a stately older witch that Sirius identified as Emmeline Vance entered and Professor Dumbledore seemed to decide that enough were in attendance to start. A number of those present were casting odd looks at Harry and his companion, obviously wondering why they were being allowed in the room when the meeting was obviously near to starting. The headmaster coughed lightly, drawing attention to him, and began to speak.

"Everyone, may I have your attention, please?" Dumbledore paused for a few seconds as the crowded room settled and continued. "We will begin the meeting now. The first order of business is, of course, discussing the induction of two new members." Several people, including Molly Weasley, opened their mouths to protest, knowing that there were only two possible choices, and one was definitely not approved of. Dumbledore didn't give them a chance and instead pressed on. "Mr. Harry Potter and Ms. Fleur Delcour."

With that, Fleur flicked her wand and her glamour faded, making her recognizable to the others at the table. The table immediately erupted in several outbursts with a number of people speaking at the same time. Harry could tell from the maniacal gleam in Sirius's eyes and the grin plastered on his face that he was going to enjoy the rest of this "prank" just as much.

Dumbledore raised his wand and fired off a sharp banging sound from his wand, bringing instant silence back to the room. "As you may know, one of the things that we are doing is guarding a certain room within the Department of Mysteries. That room, as several of you have surmised, contains a number of Prophecies. One of those Prophecies relates to the downfall of Voldemort." Harry was mildly annoyed to realize that even in this group dedicated to his destruction, a number of people visibly winced at the use of the name.

"I am going to share with you half of that prophecy. This portion is known to Voldemort and thus is not something he will find of use," Dumbledore said and proceeded to recite the first half of the prophecy. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies."

The room was deathly silent as he finished. Harry could tell that most of the room was busily trying to piece together what, exactly, that meant as Dumbledore continued. "It is my sincere belief that Harry Potter is the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord, as the prophecy puts it. The rest of the prophecy is dangerous for anyone, especially, Voldemort to know, which is why we guard it. It would be possible to remove or destroy it, but I feel that we may be better served by leaving it in place as a lure than removing it. Time that Voldemort spends attempting to obtain the prophecy is time he does not spend plotting to overthrow the wizarding world."

There were a number of murmurs throughout the group and Harry could tell this wasn't the most popular idea he'd ever heard. Personally, he didn't like it and wanted to provide an alternative, but would wait till later to do so.

"When Harry awoke from the magical sleep he was held in since shortly after the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, we had a long discussion. Mr. Potter has, I feel, grown mature enough to accept the burden this puts upon him. He has already faced Voldemort twice, fought a rather large Basilisk, and outwitted a dragon. I will now let Mr. Potter say a few words before we vote."

Harry had been expecting this, and rose, doing his best to look imposing, though that was difficult while wearing his scrawny fifteen year old guise. "Right. I know some of you pretty well and the rest I'm sure I'll meet shortly. Over the last four years, I've been asking myself constantly why Voldemort singles me out for his attacks. According to the Headmaster, the trap set up on the Tri-Wizard Cup was yet another attempt on my life by the tosser. Anyway, I've heard this prophecy and, quite frankly, I'm sick of being the victim. I intend to train hard and to defeat the psychopath who wants me dead because it's the only way I'm ever going to have a moment's peace." He realized that Jovan and Gadralla, for all their various teachings, had never done much to improve his public speaking skills and it showed. Rather than continue on and potentially make an ass out of himself, Harry left it at that, looking back to the headmaster.

The older man had a faint smile on his lips and nodded to Harry slightly, indicating that he approved of what he had said. The passion in his voice appeared to appeal to a few of those at the table, but not all. Molly Weasley, predictably, was the first to address Harry.

"Harry, dear. I know you're a little upset about things right now, but I don't think you should be involving yourself in the fighting. Let us handle it for now and when you're older, maybe then you can join in…" she trailed off as she looked into the level gaze of Harry. She'd seen Harry's eyes many times over the years, but they were different. He had the eyes of a man who had seen battle. They were the kinds of eyes that one dreaded seeing while out alone at night. He might not be a killer, yet, but those were the eyes of a man who had made the decision to kill before and wouldn't balk at any act which would achieve his goals.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Weasley. You have been the closest thing to a mother than I have ever had, but this is something that I must do," he said, his voice almost gentle, though still will an underlying edge of steel to it. Surprisingly enough, Molly shut her mouth, saying no more.

"Oh, I've heard a lot of foolishness, but this is simply too much," sneered Snape from the other end of the table, near to Dumbledore's left elbow. Harry actually lost the bed he'd made with himself that Snape would rear his greasy head first. "Potter is obviously just seeking more attention and you are giving it to him. If he wants to go off and get himself killed, let him, but don't let him drag the Order with him. He's a fool and this prophecy just inflates his already thunderous ego even more."

"Thank you, for the vote of confidence, Professor," Harry said levelly, resisting even the urge to put a harsh or mocking tone on the title. "I will gladly provide you with a demonstration of my skills at any time if you simply ask." With that, he turned away from Snape, knowing it would simply enrage the man further.

He heard Snape rise and willed his ring to resume the shape of a wand. Flicking it to the side, he wordlessly cast a very strong shield, sending the silent hex Snape had cast his way into the ceiling. He twirled the wand and a bolt of white light speared from it, going straight through the shield which Snape had hastily erected. The potions professor blinked his eyes slowly, apparently confused as to what had happened. He made to lift his wand again, but seemed to think it too much effort and sank slowly back to his seat. His wand clattered from his fingers as he made himself comfortable and relaxed, watching what was going on with a slack expression.

A number of other Order members had raised their wands at the brief altercation and Harry simply shrugged to them, willing his wand back into a ring as he did so. The tension seemed to seep out of the room and several looked in confusion at Snape and Harry. "Before anyone asks, that was a Light magic spell which fills the target with calm and inner peace. I doubt our esteemed potions master has much experience with either and is taking a while to come back to his senses. He will be back to his normal inner turmoil within the hour."

Most of the order simply looked at Harry and Snape, though Sirius had broken out into barely contained chuckles at the sight of a calm Snape. Harry would have smirked if he thought it wise. The spell he'd used was, in fact, light magic of a high order. It was a lost art as it didn't work very well on anyone save a dark wizard and few wizards were light enough to cast it. It was, just like the major dark curses, impossible to block by conventional shielding spells. Since dark wizards used anger, hatred, and other negative emotions to focus their magic, it was quite devastating for them to be unable to feel anything other than a hazy sense of contentment while attempting to fight. It wasn't always reliable, especially with foes of unknown morality, which was another reason it had faded from favor.

Several eyes turned back to Harry and debate stalled. Snape could no longer muster enough rage to argue against him and even Molly Weasley seemed to have settled down after the casual display of power Harry had performed. Dumbledore was looking at Harry with a look he had never seen before but he had a feeling meant "you will teach me that spell". Harry knew that the headmaster was incredibly knowledgeable in many fields and finding something he had never seen before must truly be a rare event.

Dumbledore waited a moment and then started the discussion back up. "Now, if there are no further objections, let us vote. All who wish to accept Mr. Potter please raise your hand." Most of the hands in the room went up and Dumbledore did a quick count. Harry was somewhat disappointed to note that Molly did not raise her hand. "And those against?" Again, a few hands went up, though Harry was relieved to note that Molly did not vote against him, either. She'd apparently decided to abstain, which suited Harry just fine.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Mr. Potter. There are a number of oaths which we will require from you, immediately following the meeting. Now, on to the matter of Ms. Delacour. As many of you know, Ms. Delacour was the Tri-Wizard combatant from Beauxbatons and saved Mr. Potter from the trap that had been left on the Cup. She is most likely going to be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts this year."

Much to Harry's annoyance, Fleur was inducted without much fanfare and the meeting continued on to other matters.

… **CHAPTER BREAK …**

**Author's Notes: **The "Snape attacks Harry" thing is overdone, but I did it anyway. The way the situation was going made it seem reasonable to me. Besides that, now you know all of the secrets of what the next year will hold. Well, some of them, anyway.

During the last week, I've been catching up on a lot of fics and scouring the odd relationships for good ones. If you haven't seen _Taking Hostages _yet, you probably want to give it a read (it's under Harry/Gabrielle) as it's quite entertaining. One other fic I found that I like recently is _Family Issue_ by PerfesserN. It's Harry/Bellatrix (but more reasonable than most); it's mildly disturbing in places; and it's a little heavy on the military side. Overall, however, it's a good read so check it out if you think you might like it.

This chapter of the story has only seen a single beta reader, and that's the wonderful and talented jamesandlilyfanficlo. Hopefully between us it's somewhere close to okay. If you're interested in helping me out as a beta reader, please drop me a line or just indicate that you'd be willing to help in a review. Chapter 6 is being beta read as I type.

I am also considering raising the rating to M for next chapter as adult themes are going to come up a bit more. Chapter 6 will also begin what I feel is going to be told from Fleur's perspective as much as Harry's. It'll help me characterize her better and generally make the story a better read. Also, there's a naked Fleur in Chapter 6.


	6. Reunion

**Summary: **HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**Last Chapter: **Fleur's desperate plan nets her much more than she bargained for when she finds a connection with Harry that is only spoken of in legend. The two wind up spending three (subjective) years in a dream world, though only six weeks have passed in reality. There, one of Harry's ancestors trained the pair in many ancient magics and arts, but eventually that time came to a close. After the pair have returned to reality, they are invited to join the Order, but have yet to reunite with Harry's friends…

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 6: Reunion**

The Order meeting really was quite boring after Harry and Fleur were inducted. A number of the people in the meeting, including Molly Weasley, spent a lot of time casting glances at Harry that virtually screamed "we'll talk later", but he did a good job of ignoring them. The Order was involved with a number of important but fairly routine tasks including the defense of the prophecy at the Ministry, the collection of information which might point to future Death Eater activities, and the warding of the homes of everyone associated with the Order.

While the last item might have seemed selfish at first glance, it was really so that Order members would not have additional stresses on them that might lessen the time they could dedicate to doing work for the Order if things got bad. It also slightly lessened the potential damage that a leak or traitor could cause, something that Harry was well aware of. Harry would have gladly volunteered to help with the effort, but he was still constrained by the Underage Magic laws. Fleur could have volunteered but didn't. Harry had a feeling it was because he wouldn't be able to accompany her.

However, Harry knew that he was in for a lot of dry planning sessions in the coming months and years, so did his best to pay attention with a moderate degree of success. He spent a fair amount of time formulating suggestions which he would share with Dumbledore in private. If he'd earned the man's tentative trust, the last thing he wanted to do was trample all over him during a meeting he was leading.

Though he didn't dare take Fleur's hand, he did press the side of his foot up against hers and she pressed back lightly. He found the secret contact reassuring and kept it up through the remainder of the meeting. When things were done, a small number of the Order members immediately made their way out of the house and away, but a much larger percentage of the assembly mingled about. A disturbing number of them seemed intent on cornering Harry.

He glanced in Fleur's direction, but found that she'd been cornered, herself, by the oldest Weasley son who was busily chatting her up. Harry could feel her irritation, but decided that maybe turnabout was fair play in this case as she'd let him fend for himself earlier and left her to her fate while he desperately sought someone safe to talk to.

One look at his godfather told him that Sirius wasn't going to be any help as he had that "this is going to be funny" look on his face again. Seeing nothing else for it, Harry picked out one of the friendliest faces in the crowd, which just so happened to be Kingsley Shacklebolt, and shook his hand. "Mr. Shacklebolt, I hear that you're an Auror? If you have some free time in the next couple of weeks, I'd like a chance to talk with you about it. Last year, I kind of thought about pursuing it as a career, but I don't know now…"

In truth, Harry already knew that he wasn't going to be becoming an Auror after Voldemort was defeated. He simply didn't like the way wizarding society was run enough to put himself under the command of the Minister of Magic. Even if Fudge was ousted, it was only a matter of time before the next power-hungry pureblood took over and started oppressing people in one way or another. Talking to Kingsley did, however, give him a good reason to ignore the fact that Molly Weasley was trying to get him to meet her gaze.

"Why, yes I am," the large black man said, smiling slightly. "I'd be happy to spare some time for you one night later this week. Right now, I need to get home to my wife. I just needed to talk to Mad-Eye for a minute."

Luckily, Moody chose that moment to walk over to the two of them, "Kingsley, I see you've met the lad," he said, his mad eye tracking something off to the far left of the conversation. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of the heavy black duster he'd been wearing and a smile on his face, though it only served to make him look like even more of a maniac than normal. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Seems the kid's in need of some old hands to help him with his dueling. I gave him a test earlier today and he did pretty well." He lowered his voice and moved a little closer to the black Auror. He was almost whispering, but loud enough that Harry could hear him. "After that altercation with Snape, I think he might have been holding out on me, too."

Harry gave the older man a sly grin, "Would I do a thing like that?" he asked, the fake innocence strong in his voice. However, he lowered his voice and continued honestly and seriously. "I'm not quite intuitive with that spell yet, in any case, so it's not something I'd use in a real fight without a golden opportunity."

Moody nodded and his smile widened even more. "If what Albus said is true, then I think ye might be the best chance we've got, lad. You're still green, but we'll help you with that. Teach you all the important lessons." Without skipping a beat, the ex-Auror took half a step back, raising his wand from his side, and launched a Stunning Hex at Harry.

In a detached fashion, Harry thought he should have been surprised, but he wasn't. He saw the wand rising, and his own wand flashed into his hand with a thought. He didn't even bother with the wand movement as he forced a shield into being, sending the hex flashing off into the ceiling.

The old Auror lowered his wand and began laughing loudly. Moody didn't have the most unpleasant laugh Harry had ever heard, but it certainly ranked in the top ten. Harry gave him a self-satisfied grin and lowered his wand, letting it return to the ring state once it was hidden in the folds of his robes, but he kept his hand free so that he could repeat the performance if needed.

"CONSTANT VIGILENCE!" Moody roared, then gave in to laughter again. "Oh, I don't think I've looked forward to something this much in years."

For once, Harry realized, Moody's magical eye almost looked normal as the other glittered with the kind of malicious glee that no sane man wants to see in an instructor. Harry's grin was a little forced as he begged out of their conversation and almost literally ran into Sirius and his cousin Nymphadora.

Seeing that his options were Sirius or the still hovering Molly Weasley, Harry plastered another grin on his face and greeted the pink-haired young woman. "Nymphadora, your cousin tells me that you just graduated the Auror Acad-", he said, but was cut off as she trod heavily on his toes, making him grit his teeth and wince. "Ouch, what was that for."

"Sorry, I just have… violent reactions to people using my first name," she said with a plastic smile on her face. Sirius let out a snort and she stepped on his toes for good measure. "Please call me Tonks."

Sirius did not handle the minor assault as well as Harry and jumped back, yelping. "Hey, what was that for?" he demanded, his laughter forgotten.

"Don't think I don't realize who put him up to that," she said, her smile going from plastic to predatory in a flash. "Your godfather has been going stir-crazy trapped in this house and he's quite hard on visitors," she supplied to Harry, causing Sirius to shoot her another dirty look.

Harry forgot about the lingering pain in his foot and gave a short laugh. "Oh, you mean he's not always like that?" he asked, causing his godfather to blush as the joking target shifted to him. They chatted for a little while and Harry found that he quite liked the young Auror. She was nice, but with her godfather's sense of humor and a disturbing tendency to resort to senseless violence. If she hadn't been almost seven years his senior and he wasn't bonded to his perfect mate, he might have liked to date a girl like her.

As it was, Harry had a good feeling about forging a friendship with the quirky metamorph. As they chatted, the room slowly emptied of people headed home or to their late night jobs. Professor McGonagall helped the still serene Snape out, and others drifted out, as well. Eventually, the room held only the Weasleys, Fleur, Dumbledore, and Sirius.

"Sirius, I hope you have room for two more. Both Mr. Potter and Ms. Delacour have need of lodging until the start of term," Professor Dumbledore asked.

Sirius nodded, but Molly Weasley was the one who spoke. "Harry can budge in with Ron, and we've got a room spare that we can give to Fleur." From the look that Sirius shot her, Harry had a feeling that Molly's take-charge attitude was grating on his nerves. Molly, for her part, just forged ahead with what had been bothering her all night. "Albus, are you sure about asking Harry to join the Order. It's just… he's so young."

"Molly, I understand your concerns, but there are things you do not know. Let us retire to the kitchen and have a spot of tea while we talk," he said, giving Harry a look that he interpreted as a question. Harry inclined his head slightly, indicating that these people were among the small circle that he felt would need to share his secrets.

Bill kept talking to Fleur in low tones as the others filtered out of the room, and Harry again had to push down the raging protective beast that lurked inside him. Had he not mastered Occlumency and allowed the Veela side of him free reign, Bill's family would likely have gotten a discount on the burial because it wouldn't have required a very large box. As it was, Harry walked purposefully to her side and snaked his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him and guiding her gently into the kitchen.

Fleur gave him a grateful smile and leaned against him a little as they went through the door and took a seat together. Behind them, Bill stared at their retreating backs, his mouth hanging open comically. After a few seconds, he recovered from his surprise and filtered into the room last.

Dumbledore did a few privacy charms, and settled down to a cup of tea as everyone else looked around in confusion and anticipation. He nodded to Harry, letting him know it was his show and settled in to watch.

"Well, I guess there are a number of things that need to be explained," Harry began, rising from the table in his nervousness. "I guess, we should start from the beginning." He took a deep breath, placing his hand on Fleur's shoulder for support. Her small hand rested atop his and he started speaking once more.

"What I'm going to tell you is a secret, even from the rest of the Order. Only those who need to know are going to be informed, and some may only know a portion of the truth. Fleur and I are the ones who will be making that decision, so please consult with us before you breathe a word of this to anyone. As you all know, Fleur and I were wrapped up in a pair of magical eggs for about six weeks. Well, our bodies were…" he said, knowing he was making a mess of things. "Our minds were somewhere else. You see… Fleur and I have Bonded."

The occupants of the room didn't flinch at the proclamation, and Harry quickly realized that, aside from Dumbledore, they had no idea what he meant. "Bonding is something that part-Veela can achieve with humans in very rare circumstances. It is considered to be proof of marriage among many magical races." As he said the last, he could see the occupants of the room opening their mouths to speak and decided to push on before they had the chance. "Every Bonded pair is very powerful and undergo a period of intensive training and transformation. That is what we have been doing these last six weeks. To us, it seemed like a bit over three years. I am currently under a glamour charm, but I actually look like this now," he said as he changed his Weapon to a wand again and ended the spell with a wordless wave.

The table was far from silent at this revelation as the scrawny boy suddenly changed into a hulking young man with long hair and well defined muscles. Bill's mouth dropped open, Molly gasped, and Sirius started laughing again. Harry glanced down and found Fleur looking up at him with a small smile, her hand grasping his.

"We are, for all intents and purposes, three years older than we were in June. Unfortunately, a number of laws don't recognize that fact, which is why I will be attending my fifth year this coming September. Though, like I said, many magical races recognize our Bonding as marriage, wizards do not. However, Fleur and I are engaged and will be wed as soon as the law allows," he finished, knowing that it was the big one.

Molly's mouth dropped open, and Bill's snapped shut. Sirius fell off of his seat, a series of guffaws issuing from his location the only indication that he wasn't injured. "Before anyone says anything about our ages, I'd just like to point out that the Bond we share is a lifetime thing. Not even death can tear us apart," he declared, and it did forestall the question which Molly had obviously been forming. What he didn't say is that death would claim them both if one should perish, so powerful was their merger.

"For now, I've had a long day and would appreciate it if we could discuss this more fully tomorrow. Right now, I haven't made a firm decision on whether or not we will let Ron, Ginny, and Hermione in on this. Fleur has to go and take her NEWTs tomorrow, so I will feel them out while she is gone," he said, feeling a little tired from the amount of activity he'd done only one day after being reborn from the emerald cocoon.

Sirius volunteered to see them up to their rooms and Harry was grateful that Ron wasn't in the room at that moment. He collapsed into the bed that Sirius indicated and muttered a quick charm which would awaken him when he desired. With that, he was out like a light.

… **BREAK …**

As easy as Harry found it to get to sleep, Fleur found it nearly impossible. She had been far less in control of the day's activities than Harry, and it left her still feeling tense, even after it was all over. She peeled off her outer robes and the tight jeans and t-shirt that Harry had transfigured for her. With a quick spell, she cancelled the charm that she'd used to give the effect of a bra. As her ample breasts came free of the constraining magic, she sighed in relief, rubbing her palms across the bottoms of them to ease the discomfort that had been growing slowly since the Order meeting started.

"I have grown a little. That charm is too tight now," she mused to herself as her hands rubbed sensation back into her chest and she relaxed. It was true, of course. Feminine charms like the one she had been using were sensitive to increases and decreases in body size, which is how the witches who designed the charms stayed in business. Every set of measurements had a slightly different spell associated with it, though there was a small range of tolerance. If she had been thinking that morning, she would have just used her will to force the proper fit out of the magic, but she didn't, and having aching breasts was the price she paid for that.

Her body was still slender and the very epitome of feminine perfection, at least as defined by Harry Potter, but her curves had softened and she was more full and mature than she had been. Having outgrown her charms gave proof of this in a somewhat uncomfortable fashion.

The thought gave her pause and a small smile. She was going to look like this for a very long time, if Gadralla was any bar by which to measure. Part-Veela aged incredibly well, in any case, but the Bond was said to keep both of its participants in the bloom of youth throughout their lives, though their span was not greatly extended. It was one of the benefits to being tied so tightly to the primal forces of life, after all.

Relaxed and quite nude, Fleur padded around her small room, seeing what there was to see. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to it. There was a full sized bed, luxurious for one but cramped for two, a few pieces of furniture done in dark wood with silver fixtures, and an en-suite bathroom with a shower. Fleur, not wanting to attempt sleep yet, decided that a shower might be just what she needed.

However, she hadn't spent the last three years training for nothing and flicked her wand almost casually around the room, checking for scrying or listening charms and placing up wards to prevent new ones from being introduced. She also locked the door with a spell that she knew that only Harry was likely to be able to counter and used a specialized unidirectional silencing charm on the door, each of the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. The spell was meant to keep all sound inside the room in but allow sound from outside to come inside. Jovan and Gadralla had drilled caution into them, and Fleur had already been cautious with her personal safety for years. Being a part-Veela was dangerous in many ways since her inability to perfectly control her allure could draw all sorts of dangerous attention.

She fiddled with the knobs for a moment and water was pouring out of the charmed pipes in the right combination. She stepped into the spray, sighing loudly as the hot water pelted her in a very soothing fashion. Her long blond hair was soaked quickly and Fleur gathered it up, flipping it back over her shoulders. An absent wave of her hand created shampoo which she worked into her mane thoroughly, paying special attention to her scalp.

Last year, teaching Defense at Hogwarts would have been the farthest thing from her mind, but it now seemed like the perfect plan. She wasn't as good a teacher as Harry, but she'd done her fair share of it while the two of them were sequestered in the other world. If what she'd heard about Harry's past Defense professors was accurate, she didn't really have a high bar to meet, in any case. If she could teach even a few students enough to get them away from attacking Death Eaters, then she would probably be in serious contention for the top spot.

Harry's first Professor had, of course, been Quirrellwho turned out to be possessed by Voldemort. That might have been relatively forgivable if he hadn't turned out to be an abysmal teacher on top of that. Then there was Lockhart who was more concerned with stroking his own ego and foisting expensive books off on the children than teaching. She'd heard of the man, even growing up in France. However, part-Veela were very conscious of the way appearance affects influence, and she hadn't been taken with him.

The third had been the best of the lot, even though he was a werewolf. Fleur had been more than a little disappointed that he hadn't been at the Order meeting that night as she was quite looking forward to meeting him. From what Harry said, however, his classes had focused a little too much on dark creatures Knowing how to defeat a redcap was nice and all, but it wouldn't help much against a Death Eater attack.

The best in terms of practical defense was probably the fake Moody, she realized with a grimace. She'd attended several of his classes in her role as a visiting student and found that his teaching style, while harsh, was effective. If he hadn't been a Death Eater in disguise, he would have been a really tough act to follow. Of course, how she was remembered would depend in large part on her not getting caught snogging with Harry. She had a feeling that a scandal of that scale would probably overshadow anything good she might accomplish.

Fleur finished with her hair and washed the rest of her body, the sensations caused by her own hands and the warm pulsating water making her wish that her mate was there to help her. She relaxed into the spray, letting the arousal it brought build though she knew she was just torturing herself.

She realized that this entire year was going to be torture. While she and Harry would be near to each other, they would not be able to be together openly. She really didn't know how she was going to sleep without her mate warming her bed every night, but this was something that she would have to be strong enough to endure. With any luck, there would be enough stolen moments to get them through to the holidays.

Sighing again, she turned off the water and toweled herself clean. She could have used a charm, but the raspy feel of the towel on her skin felt nice after the warm rhythm of the water. That didn't mean she wanted to do her hair the hard way, however, and she used a spell to dry it.

She stripped the blankets off the bed and was pleased to find smooth linens of high quality underneath. Not bothering with clothes, she slid between the sheets and clutched a pillow to her chest with one hand and settled in to sleep. She was fitful and restless, but she did eventually drift off. Her last thought before succumbing to sleep was that she dearly wished Harry was there in bed with her.

… **BREAK …**

Dreams fell away as Fleur sat upright in her bed, her eyes wide open. Something had caused her to awaken, and she didn't immediately know what. Drawing a little power to her, she cast her senses outward, enhancing them and looking at the flows of magic. There, just inside the door, she spotted the swirling form of a magical creature that she immediately recognized as her mate. The familiar pattern of a disillusionment charm blurred his edges, and she could tell that he also had silencing charms covering his feet and hands.

"'Arry!" she said in a hoarse whisper, shaking her finger at him. In her surprise, she had forgotten that she was sleeping in the nude and allowed the sheet to pool at her waist. She realized it then, but was perfectly happy for Harry to look and made no move to cover herself. Her mate dropped his concealing charms and gave her a hungry, almost wolfish, grin.

"Yes, luv?" he asked, his voice full of false innocence and barely suppressed laughter.

"Come here and kiss me, you foolish boy," she growled at him, her voice changing instantly as she realized exactly how much sleeping apart from him was taxing her.

To her pleasure, he did so, crossing the room with three long strides and crawling up the bed toward her. In the faint light cast through the cracked bathroom door, his green eyes seemed to blaze with a light of their own, standing out in the semi-darkness. Fleur's breath caught in her throat as she was once again overwhelmed by her feelings of longing and need for the man that she loved. The sheet fell away even more as she rose to her knees, eagerly capturing her lover's lips in a passionate kiss, urging him to take her without words.

Disappointingly, Harry broke away from her after a few minutes of heated snogging and gave her a toothy smile. Fleur, who had been busy trying to get his pants undone paused in her work and looked at him curiously.

"Fleur, I thought we decided to make our second first time special," he said, his deep voice making her quiver and twitch in all the places he was stubbornly refusing to touch.

"Oui… but I want you so badly right now," she replied, unable to keep the longing need from her voice. She took her hands back and waved her hand, muttering the command word which brought up the gaslights in the room. "I will wait, however."

Harry apparently didn't miss the note of frustration in her voice, however, and gave her another grin as he produced something from his pocket. She growled softly as she realized that he was winding her up on purpose. "While you were busy earlier today, I picked these up. I thought you might like to do some reading… see if there's anything interesting we could try out on Friday night." Fleur blinked in confusion as she realized that he was holding a few books, shrunken to fit easily into his pocket. He enlarged them and she twisted the pile around in his hands to read the titles. The three spines read Rituals for Couples, Mating Habits of Magical Creatures, and Tantra for the Uninitiated.

Curious, she picked up Mating Habits and realized that someone had put a couple of markers in the middle of it. She flipped it open and found that someone, she presumed Harry, had been reading up on Veela mating rituals. She turned to the next marker and found that Parselmouths must be considered fair game for the book. She had a distinct feeling that the snake the female Parselmouth in the picture was "speaking" to wasn't able to understand her.

"Jovan told me, just before we left, that there were other types of rituals that couples could do, above and beyond our bond. They wouldn't have worked for us in the dream world, because those weren't really our bodies, but here… He suggested I look into it, and this is what I've found. The one you're looking at was just an extra special treat," he said, grinning widely. "Check out the next page."

She turned the page and her mouth fell open. "That… Friday night, you said?" she asked, barely able to contain her blush or stop squirming. The fact that she was a blushing Veela didn't even register to her, so entranced was she with the wizarding photograph showing a male Parselmouth really "speaking" to his bride.

Harry nodded, his eyes dark with desire. "Yes. Friday night. You can keep that one as I'm already done with it." He fixed her with his emerald gaze again. "I've already memorized that section," he added, his voice husky. "I would not suggest you make any plans for Saturday. You will need it to rest."

The books were momentarily forgotten again as they kissed, snogging heavily on the bed. Harry's hands roamed, and Fleur made the little noises that excited Harry so very much. In the end, however, their liaison was brief. They had only spent an hour of the night together, but Fleur had NEWTs coming up in the morning and Harry could not afford to have Ron and Hermione find out about his relationship by finding them in bed together. It would make what he needed to tell them quite a bit more awkward.

Finally, reluctantly, Harry rose, straightening his clothes and replacing the articles that had been removed. With one last heated kiss, he slipped out the door and down the hall, as quietly as a ghost.

… **BREAK …**

Morning came quickly for Harry and he stifled a yawn as he got out of bed. The gentle rise and fall of the blankets on the other bed told him that Ron was asleep. The loud snoring might also have been a clue. Harry grinned and, as silently as a cat, gathered up the clothing that he had left on the nightstand. The things in his trunk would not fit him any longer, so he would eventually need to wrangle a trip out shopping or apply charms to take up the fabric. Surprisingly, tailoring charms fell into an area they'd never touched on in the dream world because they never needed it.

Ron was still snoring when he snuck out of the room and made his way to the shower at the end of the hallway. The rooms that were large enough for two people in separate beds didn't contain en-suite bathrooms, though there were two large baths on their floor which seemed sufficient. Remembering Fleur's room from the night before, Harry spent a moment regretting that he couldn't just move in with her, but he didn't think Mrs. Weasley would approve, even after he put the ring back on her finger.

As he moved to the bathroom, Harry could smell the faint odors of breakfast and hear the soft conversation of the early risers coming from downstairs. He would have, normally, been a very early riser, but last night he'd spent several hours snogging his mate and it had impacted his sleep cycle. It was, in his estimation, very much worth it. He decided that he should probably hurry down to make sure he saw Fleur off to take her exams. She didn't need him to wish her luck, but he needed to see her and touch her one last time before she left him for the day. In the last three years, he'd been apart from her no more than a hour at a time while conscious, and adjusting to the real world where separation would be more common did not strike him as fun.

As he stripped and climbed into the shower, he began his morning ritual of composing a list of things that he needed to accomplish that day. First off, he wanted to see Fleur. Then, breakfast. Following that, he needed to take the plunge and reintroduce himself to Hermione and the Weasley children. Later in the morning, there needed to be a trip to meet with the goblins. Sometime during the day, he also needed to discuss with Moody his training program and convince someone to take him clothes shopping the next day. Oh, and then there were the preparations for Friday that he had to establish.

All-in-all, it was quite a lot to get done in the few hours he felt he had left as he climbed out of the shower. He definitely didn't want to get wrapped up in those activities past Fleur's return from taking her exams. He had a very strong feeling that by the time she returned, he'd be seriously craving her company and didn't put much stock in his ability to be productive while she was there.

He quickly toweled dry and put on his clothes, pausing only a moment to inspect himself in the mirror. He was wearing the jeans he'd transfigured the day before and one of the long tops he'd bought in Diagon Alley. It didn't look very good, but it was comfortable. He made a face at himself as he went over what Fleur would say about it but shrugged it off. He really didn't have much in the way of clothing as they'd only been to a wizarding shop the day before and wizards didn't do "casual" that well.

Dressed, he headed downstairs to find the kitchen table set for breakfast and Molly Weasley bustling around. Harry was pleased to see a rather tired looking Remus Lupin among those in attendance, along with Fleur, Hermione, and Sirius. Harry gave them all a smile and a murmured "Good morning" as he sat down beside Fleur, covertly sliding his arm around her back and giving her a light squeeze.

Harry retracted his arm and glanced at Hermione, more than a little annoyed to see that she was watching him intently. He had a feeling that he was going to be telling her everything soon, as she'd figure it out either way.

"Good morning, Remus, Hermione, everyone," he said with a little more force as he spooned a good quantity of eggs and sausage onto his plate, snagging a few pieces of buttered toast in the process. "How's your summer been?" he asked, looking at Hermione from over a big forkful of eggs.

"It went pretty well, except for all of the worrying I did over you two." Hermione's tone was measured and a little on the formal side. Her look wasn't quite accusatory, but it was close.

"Sorry about that. Magic is a tricky thing. We didn't actually mean to vanish like that," he offered contritely.

"Well, just as long as you learned something from it and you're okay." She lost a lot of her hard edge and looked more concerned. "You are okay, right?"

Harry gave a light chuckle and nodded. "I'm just fine." That seemed to relax Hermione a little and she gave him a genuine smile. Harry couldn't stop from smiling back. He really had missed his friends.

"That is an… interesting outfit you have chosen, 'Arry," Fleur said, eliciting a soft groan from Harry.

"I grew a little and I'm rubbish with tailoring charms." He realized that he owed himself a galleon. He'd really expected her to jump on his outfit a little sooner.

"Maybe you could ask Mrs. Weasley or Hermione to help you with that?" she prompted. It was only because of his connection with her that Harry could tell she was holding in laughter as she gave him a hard time. "You know, so you can look like you're not color blind."

Harry chose to end the conversation quickly before she could really embarrass him and turned to Hermione. "Give me some help after breakfast? All I've got is Dudley's old stuff, but a little magic should make it more wearable. Since I don't have to go back there anymore, I don't have to worry about appearing that way again."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "You don't have to go back to those beastly people anymore? That's great news. Of course I'll help you with a few charms. I read a quite interesting book on magical tailors last year, in fact." She took a deep breath and Harry could just sense that there was an interesting fact that Hermione felt a need to share with the table.

Sirius, of course, couldn't allow a conversation to go without joining in and jumped in rather loudly before Hermione could explain more about magical clothing. "So, Harry, how'd you sleep last night?"

"Um… fine. Little hard to get used to Ron's snoring again, though," he replied, more than a little nervous about where he'd spent half the night coming out to two people who didn't know of his relationship and one person who did but wouldn't approve. He cast a quick look at Molly Weasley, but she didn't seem to be listening as she finished loading up another pan of sausage onto a plate. It seemed like an excessive amount of food, but Ron hadn't been down yet. It wasn't likely to go to waste.

"Oh, I'm sure that'd be really hard to get used to again. You know, if you were sleeping in that room," his godfather said, smirking and nodding. The way he stressed the word "if" made it clear to Harry that he knew where he'd really spent his nocturnal hours. He wasn't alone in noticing it, either, as Hermione's eyes had widened slightly, and she was looking between Harry and Fleur searchingly. "Bed warm enough for you?"

Harry glanced at Fleur, who had a calm expression on her face that Harry recognized as the result of Occlumency. Either Sirius had already been teasing her, or her instincts were screaming for her to defend her mate. After a second, she interrupted their conversation and rose.

"I must be going. Mr. Lupin, if you would?" she asked, looking at the werewolf questioningly. He'd been watching Sirius with a little curiosity and nodded, rising to follow her.

"Sirius, let's see them out," Harry said, his voice harder than it probably should have been. He rose from the table, though he was still wearing his "wimpy Harry" disguise and didn't look very threatening. His emotions were surging, a side effect of his Veela nature, testing the limits of his Occlumency. Even with the exercise he tried to perform, he was quite angry.

Sirius lost his smirk and gulped visibly. "Umm… nah, I'll just finish my breakfast and go on upstairs."

Harry took one step toward the door and growled, allowing his emotional magic to do what felt natural. He realized that he was exuding an aura of command just as Fleur had once exuded an aura of allure. Jovan had coached him in how to do it in the dream world, but he'd actually succeeded in getting it to work. One morning with his immature godfather had apparently been all the incentive he really needed to unfurl it. "Sirius. Heel."

Sirius reacted almost instantly, hopping up and following Harry toward the door. His face was a mix of embarrassment, annoyance, and contrition.

Out in the hallway, Harry flipped his fingers at the door, silencing it, and hissed, "What's the idea? You should know by now that Hermione doesn't need much evidence to figure things out. She knows something is up, just not what. I've been agonizing over telling her and Ron for weeks, and you just trampled all over that."

Sirius did have the good grace to look embarrassed under his angry godson's gaze. "I'm sorry… I didn't think…"

Harry softened a little as he vented the worst of his anger and got his emotions under control again. He really did love his godfather, but the man was trying his patience. "I guess it's okay. I should probably tell my friends, in any case. Just… please don't do that when someone who doesn't know is around." As he said that, he realized that Remus was standing there, watching the exchange and grinning. "You know, like Remus. Actually, Remus is fine." He turned to the werewolf and grinned. "If you'd been here last night, we would have filled you in, too. Fleur and I are together. A bunch of other stuff happened, but we'll tell you about it later."

Remus just grinned wider and tapped his nose. "I already figured that out. Fleur smells so much like you that I almost thought she was you in disguise there for a while."

Harry grinned. "We're a lot alike these days. Take good care of her today," he said, sliding over to his mate for a goodbye kiss.

Eventually, Remus declared that they would be late if they didn't leave then and the two of them had to separate. With one last wave, they walked out the door and headed for the Ministry.

Sighing, Harry turned to Sirius and captured the older man in a hug. "Sorry about that… Didn't mean to go all alpha male on you."

Sirius smiled again and hugged his godson back. "But you're getting so good at it. You really have grown up."

Harry gave him a laugh and pulled away. "I need to talk to your cousin, sometime soon. I need her help with some stuff for Friday."

"Friday? What's Friday? And why is Little Nymphie the one that gets to help you?" Sirius asked, regaining a lot of his earlier exuberance. The fact that he was bouncing back so quickly relieved Harry. He really hadn't meant to take his godfather to task like an errant child, but his temper, never a truly stable thing, had only grown more fragile since he started taking on Veela traits.

"Friday is the day after Fleur is finished with her NEWTs and I'm taking her out to celebrate. I need 'Little Nymphie' to help me get some clothes and make the arrangements. I'd also like to see if she'll be our bodyguard, as I have a distinct feeling that she's the only one in the Order that will fit in where we're probably going."

Sirius frowned a little, but then grinned broadly. "So, like a date? Because if it's going to be like a date, I know who else can be a bodyguard. Of course, he'd have to pretend to be out on a date with my cousin." Sirius laughed and Harry raised an eyebrow, realizing that his godfather was up to something.

"Sirius," he said, placing one hand on his godfather's shoulder. "I've missed you."

His godfather smiled even wider and grinned. "I've missed you, too, cub."

With that, Harry headed back to do what damage control he could in the kitchen.

… **BREAK …**

"The spells are really particular for sizes," Hermione stated, waving her wand and demonstrating on a ragged old t-shirt. "That is why a lot of people use auto-sizing charms on their own clothing. They are a lot harder than the tailoring charms, and you have to refresh them every so often, which is why most tailors don't use them. Even then, there are a number of charms, depending on how you want something to fit. The incantation is the same, but the wand motions vary depending on the specific effect and size you're going for."

Harry nodded as he listened, watching with his aura-sight as well as his eyes as Hermione wove the magic. Once he knew how to do it, he doubted he'd need a wand or incantation, but seeing the spell done right once was necessary so that he didn't have to start from scratch.

Hermione swished her wand and said "_Accommodo_". A hazy blue light issued from her wand, surrounding the t-shirt. The sleeves drew in a little and the rest cinched itself up tighter, molding itself into a shirt perfectly designed for Hermione. "The one who casts the spell is the one it will size to fit, unless someone else is wearing or holding it and you append their name to the end of the spell. If I used '_Accommodo Harry_' while you were wearing it, for instance, it'd fit you perfectly."

Harry nodded and thought he had it down. He pointed to one of Dudley's old pairs of jeans and uttered the spell. The pants immediately drew up at the waist and enlarged a little on the inseam.

"Close, Harry, but you must have been a little off with the wand motion. Those look like they're a good bit too long for you," she noted, glancing at him appraisingly.

"Yeah, must have had it off a little," Harry supplied lamely, trying to cover up the fact that the pants would, in fact, fit him perfectly. "I'll practice in a bit. Are there dying and charms and the like, too?"

Hermione nodded and showed him a few more spells before she asked the question that had obviously been on her mind all day. "Harry… Is there something going on between you and Fleur?"

Harry sighed and looked down at the floor. "Didn't take you long, eh? Yeah, there's something going on. There's a lot going on, actually. Why don't we find Ron and Ginny and sit down somewhere. I need to tell you all about what happened this summer. It was," he paused, looking for the right words and coming up empty. "Well, it was…" he trailed to a pause again. "It _is_ complicated."

It didn't take them long to find Ron finishing off a late breakfast and Ginny cleaning up the table. Harry greeted them with a wave. "Guys, can we talk?"

The two looked a little surprised and nodded. The four teenagers soon found themselves in the sitting room across the hall and Harry put up a number of privacy spells and locking charms.

"What I'm going to say is secret," he said, looking over his friends nervously. If revealing his relationship to the crowd the night before had been nerve-wracking, this was even worse. "A few people in the Order know, but even most of them don't."

A silent nodding of heads followed, and Harry tried to piece together the right words. "Well, I just got in last night. Fleur and I got caught up in something and… well, it's a long story."

"So, you and Fleur are together?" Hermione asked, voicing again her question from earlier.

"You and Fleur, huh?" Ron asked, jumping in with a look in his eye that Harry couldn't quite decipher. Harry was almost certain that there was an element of jealousy there, but also… was it relief?

Harry nodded stiffly, looking in turn from Ron to Hermione to Ginny. Each of them was every bit as hard to read as Ron. "There's a lot more to it, but yeah, the short version is that Fleur and I are together."

"How did it happen? What was with the green egg things?" Hermione asked, causing Harry to smile slightly. Trust Hermione to break the tension by asking half a dozen questions in one breath.

"Well… You know how Fleur is part-Veela, right?" he asked. They all nodded because he'd told them the year before after the wand weighing. "Well, there's a legend among the part-Veela…" He proceeded to cover the Bonded and give a general outline of what had happened to the two of them in the dream world. His three friends sat, entranced, as he told the lengthy tale. He did leave out a few things that he didn't think were too important to the story, such as his relation to Godric Gryffindor, but other than that he covered just about everything.

When he was done, silence once again reigned in the room. "That," Ginny said, as she took her turn at breaking the silence. "That has to be the most romantic story I've ever heard. Fated lovers, a magical land, a tragic prophecy, you being all hunky…" She stopped, her brow crinkling in thought. "Wait a minute, how come you still look the same?"

"Oh, that," Harry said with a nervous chuckle. He waved his hand and his illusion melted away, allowing his friends to see him as he truly was. "Sorry, I have to keep up appearances."

"Bloody hell, mate," Ron muttered, shaking his head slowly from side to side. From the open-mouthed looks of both Ginny and Hermione, he started to get self-conscious.

"Umm… Guys? Are you all okay with this?" he asked, quite self-conscious about how tight his t-shirt was and how it hugged his muscular chest. He was feeling exposed and was starting to get a little embarrassed.

Ron, again, seemed to be the only one able to speak. "I think so, mate. You really don't do anything by half, do you?"

That brought a chuckle from Harry, and he shook his head. "Well, if you're going to go and do it, you might as well do it right."

Hermione closed her mouth, shuddering as she tore her eyes off of Harry's chest. "Um… yeah… we're good. I might… have a few more questions for you later," she managed, her eyes continually drifting downward from his face only to suddenly dart back up suddenly.

"Great," Harry said and stood up to pull his two best friends into a tight hug, relishing the feeling of platonic contact. He barely even heard Hermione's faint whimper. "You… I love you two, you know? You're the best mates a guy could have." When they broke apart, he gave Ginny a half hug, which was a little less forceful and familiar. "And you're pretty great, too, Gin."

The silence again reigned in the room as the four teenagers sat back. "I'm still the same guy I always was, just a little more mature and a lot taller, though I'll be under an illusion most of the time." He grinned as he stood up. "Let's talk this evening. I'll bring Fleur and you can ask for her side of the story, if you want."

After receiving a few nods, Harry made for the door, canceling his spells with a wave of his hand, slipping out, and closing it behind him. Rather than heading on upstairs, he leaned back against the wood, letting out the tense breath he'd been holding since he stood up. The encounter with his friends hadn't gone the way he'd expected. He'd been hoping for a little more reaction. As it was, he had the distinct feeling that they hadn't really come to terms with it yet and he'd be getting the real reactions over the next few days.

"Sweet Baby Maeve, did you feel those arms?" he heard from the other side of the door. Surprisingly, he registered the voice as belonging to Hermione. Harry blushed immediately and stepped away from the door, definitely not wanting to hear more.

… **CHAPTER BREAK …**

**Author's Notes: **This chapter has a few nods to cloneserpent's The Sword of Gryffindor in it. I'm borrowing the general idea of some of the rituals Harry and Fleur will perform from him, and Hermione's last line is a direct homage to his Hermione. It does beg the question, however, that if "brainy birds are naughty", what does that make "birdy birds" like Fleur?

The relationships between the people in the fic are complicated, and I feel just a little more realistic than what we often see. No one is overly happy and no one is overly upset. Most people are somewhere in the middle. Ron is probably a prime example as he's often portrayed as flying off the handle when Harry gets a girl. Ron is jealous, but he's also relieved that Harry is off the market as he thinks that gives him a shot at Hermione (who he previously thought was "Harry's girl"). What Hermione thinks about it… well, I did say things were complicated, right?

Anyway, the Fleur bits were short, but I want to use them more in future chapters to help flesh out her character some. Plus naked Fleur in the shower is hot and a small apology to Fledge for glossing over the sex in chapter 3. Chapter 7 should be more Fleur than Harry. Maybe.

Speaking of Chapter 7, it's going to be somewhat delayed as I haven't gotten more than an outline written. I've been sick and between that, sick children, and work, I'm lucky it didn't completely knock me out of things. I'm also stricken with a fic idea that won't leave me alone, so I might have to scribble that out a little before I can get chapter seven to flow for me. We are probably also looking at a rating change at that point, just for safety sake.

Last but not least, thanks goes to rejeimha for doing a beta read on this chapter. If anyone else is interested in helping me beta, please let me know.


	7. Bonding

**Summary: **HPFD, post GoF. Thanks to a mysterious voice, Fleur Delacour stops Harry Potter from touching the trapped Cup and discovers that the two of them share an ancient and powerful connection.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the associated properties.

**The Story So Far: **Harry and Fleur spend three years in a dream world, receiving training, but not practical experience. Now, back in reality, Fleur is set to teach Defense at Hogwarts while Harry is legally bound to complete his fifth year of schooling. They've shared their secrets with Harry's closest friends and joined the Order. Now, they have a week and a half before term begins, and there are three point one four million things to get done.

**Ecstatic Immolation**

**Chapter 7: Bonding**

Harry was immediately glad that he'd requested Tonks as his escort on his trip to Diagon Alley. She might have her clumsy moments, but she could blend in with anyone, anywhere, and her glamour charms were almost as good as Fleur's. Harry had her cast the spells since he had a feeling that the goblins would wish them to be cancelled at some point, and Harry had no intention of tangling with the Underage Sorcery laws if he could avoid it.

The two of them walked, arm in arm, into Gringotts, playing the part of a young couple. Harry had the feeling that Tonks was quite enjoying it, though the flirtation was innocent enough. From what his godfather had said, Tonks was interested in someone else, though he hadn't been able to figure out who the lucky guy was. In any case, it added to their disguise and they reached the goblin clerk without incident and were ushered into a small meeting room.

The full extent of the Potter holdings was astonishing to Harry. If he never worked a day in his life and lived to one hundred and fifty, there would still be enough left for his great-grand children to fight over. He immediately requested a review of the funds, and established accounts in both his and his fiancé's names. Seizing the opportunity, he also had a temporary will drawn up to name Fleur his primary beneficiary and, in the likely event that she had perished with him, to pass everything on to Sirius, and then to Remus. All-in-all, the goblins were quite efficient and the whole business took only an hour.

Afterward, a sobered Harry took a hectic cart ride down to the main Potter vault to view his parents' personal effects. There were a number of letters, including one addressed to him. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes as he broke the seal and read a message of love from his mother and father. They'd known of the danger they were facing, and they thought of nothing but his survival and happiness. He said a silent vow to make sure that he didn't meet them until he'd had a chance to make their wishes come true and spent several minutes using his Occlumency to file away the myriad emotions he was feeling for later resolution. The letter had really hit him hard, though he had too many things to do right then to deal with it.

It was some time later that a much quieter Harry let Tonks gently steer him back to the cart and to the Alley. Somewhere along the way, he'd withdrawn ten thousand pounds and the equivalent in galleons. The galleons were banded in groups of one hundred which, when an activation word was said over them, would transfigure themselves into thick pieces of paper decorated in a fashion similar to pounds and back with a second word. A stack of a thousand galleons in this reduced format was roughly the equivalent of one of the banded packs of a thousand pounds in size and weight. Harry had never seen them used before, but he realized that it was how the wealthier wizards must deal with their money. Carrying around a few thousand gold coins was bound to be difficult, even with shrinking and lightening charms.

Away from the vault, itself, Tonks reapplied the glamour, and Harry began to shake out of his stupor and recalled all the other things he'd wished to get done that day. He dug in one of his pockets and came out with a short list.

"Tonks, I need your help. Do you know where we can get some clothes more suitable to younger folks?" She gave him a slightly concerned and confused look under lowered eyebrows, but did her best to translate what she thought he was trying to ask. Her response was rather hesitant, but sounded mildly like she was explaining the obvious.

"Um, yeah, Madam Malkin's Robes for _All_ Occasions should have what you need." Harry wondered briefly why she was talking like that, but as soon as he realized how she took, or rather mistook, what he meant to say he knew he had to rephrase it for her.

"Uh, I didn't mean it like that. I meant for what, you know, you or your friends, well not exactly what you and your friends would wear, but you know, something suitable for a night out on the town?" Tonks' confused look instantly changed to that of understanding as she inhaled as her mouth formed an "O" shape as she slightly tilted her head back and up. This look slowly faded away as a new one, just as quickly, took its place, and Harry almost wished he hadn't spoken when Tonks' look settled into a full, hungry grin.

**O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O**

"The name should have been a clue," Fleur groaned as she stretched her back. The N.E.W.T.s were living up to their name by leaving her nastily exhausted at the end of her first day of testing. It wasn't that the tests were that difficult, really, as she knew virtually all of the material they covered, but the process itself was taxing.

She stifled a yawn as she collected Remus from the atrium of the Ministry. They'd had a nice lunch together during her break, and she found the man to have a wealth of ideas for Defense class sessions. For his part, he was genuinely interested in what she and Harry had been up to, and in learning more about the mysterious Jovan. She also found that she quite liked him as a person, and could appreciate the affection that Harry obviously felt for the man.

They chatted lightly about the coming school year as they made their way to the Apparition point and vanished to the Leaky Cauldron. They didn't waste much time, once there, in turning around and Apparating directly to Grimauld Place. The stopover was a necessary evil as it would help confuse anyone attempting to follow the magical signatures of their movements. Doing so wasn't easy, but neither was it all that difficult if one had practice.

Number 12 was fairly deserted when they arrived, and Remus went to make sure that Sirius wasn't causing any trouble as Fleur waved him off at the door to her room. Once inside, she flopped on the bed in an undignified pose and let out a huge sigh of relief. "One day down, just an eternity to go," she muttered to herself. The testing was really starting to grate on her nerves, and it really did feel like there was no end in sight.

She must have dozed off a little at that point because she found herself sitting bolt upright at a knock on her door. Cautiously, she gripped the handle of her wand, and went to see who was visiting her, hoping that it was Harry.

When the door opened, she was more than a little surprised to see Hermione and Ginny standing in the hallway, looking shifting nervously from foot to foot. Hermione was worrying with her hair and Ginny had her lower lip gripped firmly between her teeth, clearly telling Fleur that they wanted to talk about something and they weren't exactly certain of the answer. As she'd never actually spoken with either girl, she immediately drew a conclusion about the subject.

"Can we come in or go somewhere else to talk?" Hermione asked, her voice betraying her nervousness even more. She let the strand of her frazzled mane go, as though suddenly catching herself doing it.

"Sure," Fleur said, also feeling a knot of dread forming in her stomach. "Here's fine."

The girls came in at her urging and took seats at the foot of the bed. Fleur crawled onto the head of it and settled in, cross-legged, watching the girls warily. The silence in the room hung heavily about them for almost a minute before Hermione broke it.

"We… we talked to Harry this morning," Hermione began again. "He told us about the two of you."

Fleur nodded noncommittally. She'd suspected as much, or the girls wouldn't be here.

"Then Harry took off his glamour charms and showed us what he looked like," the darker haired girl continued, a little blush forming on her cheeks. Ginny had much the same look and Fleur rapidly revised her assessment of the situation. "We wanted to ask you… well… we know that you and Harry are bound together forever and all… but is that… exclusive?"

If Fleur's mind hadn't been rapidly piecing together where this conversation was going while Hermione nervously meandered to her destination, the question would have been a shock. As it was, she simply gave the two girls a long, appraising look.

"In truth," the part-Veela began after a long pause. "The bond means that neither of us will ever fall in love with another. Once it is complete, there is nothing that can tear it apart." Both girls immediately looked crestfallen, but Fleur continued. "However, that's not the entirety of the truth."

One of Hermione's eyebrows rose slightly in a quizzical expression and Fleur pressed on. "No, neither of us can love another, but the two of us as a unit may form bonds with others. It has been necessary at a few points in history for such unions to occur for political and personal reasons…" She started to trail off. This wasn't a topic she necessarily wanted to broach so early in her relationship with Harry, but his friends were important to him.

"Would you… do you think Harry would…" Ginny started, speaking for the first time and not doing a very good job of it.

"Right now?" Fleur asked, giving the younger redhead a piercing look. "No."

"Oh," Ginny said, biting her lip and going silent in disappointment.

"However, in a few years… You must understand that Harry is not the same boy you knew a few months ago. He is a man now, a powerful wizard and a mature person. If you wish to pursue a relationship with the two of us, and it must be with both of us, you will have to make that decision based off of who we are now, not who we were." Fleur paused again, looking over both girls. Ginny seemed put off by this, though Hermione continued to look intrigued. "For now, I wish for you to maintain your friendship with Harry. When you have finished your education, then we will discuss our future relationships and possibly begin a courtship or two."

"Are you going to tell Harry about this?" Hermione asked. Fleur could almost see the gears moving in her mind.

"In time, yes. Right now, I will keep it to myself, so long as the two of you follow my guidelines," Fleur said and shortly thereafter ushered them out of her room.

Lying on the bed, she ran her thoughts over the rather odd conversation she'd just had. In truth, she didn't want to share Harry with anyone, but there were certain advantages in such an arraignment. For one thing, Harry desired a large family. She wasn't opposed to a large family, herself, though she didn't know if she really wanted to bear more than a few children. Adding a second or even third wife involved would mean that each of them could produce a reasonable number of children and still achieve the Potter family Quidditch team he would no doubt want.

With any luck, one or both of the girls would find someone else before they graduated from Hogwarts. That was three years out for Hermione and four for Ginny, so the possibility was very real. If they managed to hold out for Harry that long, Fleur would give her consent for a courtship to start between the bonded couple and the younger girls. However, in a lot of ways, she hoped it never came to that.

**O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O**

For Harry, it seemed like the week just fell away. His plans for Friday and for the coming school year had been laid and every possible item he could think of had been planned and accounted for. He was more than a little amused when Fleur and Remus arrived back at the mansion only to have Tonks drag them both upstairs. Apparently, Remus was the mystery guy that she was crushing on.

In any case, Tonks was in charge of clothing for the evening and had her two victims well in hand. Harry walked up a little after them and quickly changed, as well. For the evening, he'd chosen a dark green dress shirt, open at the collar, and a pair of tight black slacks. He gave himself a glance in the mirror and nodded appraisingly before weaving a heavy glamour over his scar. The scar tended to degrade disguising spells over time, but he put enough power into the spell that it would last the night.

He opened a small box and pulled out the simple silver stud of an earring. He placed the earring against his lobe and it seemed to melt straight through, fastening itself in place. Wizarding jewelry didn't require actual piercing, of course. He then slipped on the Potter family signet ring where it rested on the middle finger of his right hand right beside the ring formed by the Weapon.

He was the first back in the front hall and suppressed a grin when he saw a flustered, but similarly attired Remus stumble down the stairs. The two of them stood in companionable silence, sharing put upon looks with each other and waiting for their respective partners to come down. Harry shifted from foot to foot after a while, his clothing showing off every movement of his muscles as he did so. He'd let Tonks pick the outfit, over his protests, but he was actually quite pleased with the results. Without his "young Harry" persona up and in clothing so different from what he normally wore, he had little worry of being recognized.

At Harry's urging, she'd gotten something a little less fitted for Remus, though it still showed that the older werewolf had some significant upper body strength. Harry was no judge of attractiveness in men, but he was fairly certain that Tonks would find the former Professor attractive, even though he looked tired.

After what felt like an hour, but was much closer to fifteen minutes, Fleur and Tonks came down. Both were wearing short black dresses that came only half way to their knees and hugged their figures like second skins. Tonks had taken a cue from Fleur and lengthened her hair, making it a similar silver color, though it was a more natural blond than hers. It looked like Fleur had pulled out her full arsenal of cosmetic charms for the both of them as they looked positively magnificent. Their lips and nails were done in silver, just like their hair, a stark contrast to their black dresses. Fleur had on a silver necklace she'd gotten from her mother and matching earrings while Tonks had a number of silver studs in each ear along with a stud in her nose. Both of them looked stunning.

Harry grinned and elbowed Remus to get him to close his gaping mouth. "You look absolutely lovely, my dear," he said and took Fleur's hand, bringing it up as he lowered himself and brushed his lips across her knuckles. Remus did not manage to be anywhere near as suave and looked decidedly uncomfortable through the whole trip to the Muggle restaurant where they had reservations at two separate tables. Harry almost laughed at the sight of the host desperately trying not to be caught staring at the two lovely ladies. The waiter didn't even bother trying to disguise it and managed to knock over a glass of water that, mercifully, failed to soak anyone.

The place was a trendy upscale dining spot, and the dishes were a mix of traditional English, French, and Italian fare. Harry chose something lighter and smiled as Fleur did the same. The chatted softly over their meal, though their talk stayed away from the topic of what they would be doing for the rest of the night as Harry held that secret closely.

After the restaurant, the quartet joined up again and went to a Muggle nightclub. The girls on their arms let Harry and Remus cut through the lengthy queue and join the party inside with little trouble. The fact that Harry was looking his natural self and the hundred pound note that Harry slipped the doorman didn't hurt matters, either.

Inside, the club was dark, though an impressive array of multicolored lights swept the room in time to the throbbing beat. As Tonks and Remus were, ostensibly, escorting the younger couple, they took a vantage point on one of the catwalks ringing the main dance floor while Harry and Fleur had their fun.

At the Yule ball, Harry would have been hard pressed to keep up with traditional wizarding dances, but his time in the dream world had included a number of lessons. Fleur was an expert in the movements of the formalized, tightly constrained dances that Wizards so favored and found that teaching Harry had built in rewards.

Those dances had no place in the Muggle club, however, and the couple found themselves in the middle of a slowly widening empty space on the dance floor as they improvised fluid movements and feats of agility and physical strength into a freestyle frenzy set to a beat. There was something primal about the activity as Harry used posture and movement to declare that Fleur was his while she enticed him with her own motions.

Sweaty and a little tired, but exhilarated, the two of them had a few drinks with Remus and Tonks before retiring to the hotel room which Harry had booked three days previously. He carried her bodily into the room, their lips locked together in a heated kiss, using his elbow to flick on the light switch as he did so. The room was clearly the victim of a number of charms as it had been enlarged and the bed placed in the middle of the room. On pretty much every bare surface of the room rested either candles or arcane markings that were part of the large ritual the two of them were going to undertake.

He allowed her to stand again, and Fleur's eyes swept around the room, locking on the bed. "Merlin, it's only been a week, but it feels like forever," she murmured against him and felt him stiffen against her in response. "You are sure about the rituals?"

Harry nodded, and waved a hand to light the candles arrayed around the room. "Jovan was a huge help. Most sexual rituals seek to create aspects of our bonding, which means that there weren't a whole lot of options. When you rule out the ones with nasty side effects, there were even fewer. Once we're done with these, they will enhance our physical speed, stamina, and give us some minor protection from physical and magical injury. There may also be some regenerative abilities included with that last, but I'm not certain they'll carry over in the combined ritual. There was one that enhanced memory, but I didn't want to risk it interacting badly with our Bond."

Fleur nodded, kicking her shoes off and toward the door. "Well then, let's get to work," she said with a wide grin, wrapping her arms around her mate's neck and pulling him down to her for a passionate snog. They continued to fumble with each other's clothing until they were both bare and then Harry, without breaking their lip-to-lip contact, lifted her up and carried her bodily to the bed. They continued to kiss as Harry produced a pot of oils and began to paint Fleur with it in various spots. She did the same at his direction and soon both of them had oily black runes on their bodies. Most of them would be smeared during the ceremony, but they were necessary.

Drawing out a pair of scrolls, Harry started to chant off his part while Fleur read hers when the scroll indicated it. The ritual chant was long and fairly complex as it was designed to fulfill the requirements of a number of different rituals at once. By the time they were done, the runes on their bodies were glowing and both of them were very excited from the anticipation.

What followed was one of the most magical experiences of either of their lives. As they coupled, power washed over them in waves both summoned by their rituals and brought out by their Bond. Their lovemaking was neither slow, nor gentle as they gave in to the raw lust and need coursing through them. The magic spurred them on until they both collapsed, smeared with black oils and sweat, on the bed.

The waves of magic rolling away from them started to slowly recede as they panted their exhaustion on the bed. The blissful arms of unconsciousness reached out for them, but Harry forced himself to stay awake when he heard someone pounding at their door.

Staggering to his feet, he managed to find a towel to throw over his nakedness before opening the door a crack. A very flustered Tonks and Remus stood in the hallway, and from the smear of silver across Remus' lips, Harry had a feeling that they had been busy, as well.

"Harry, you two just lit up three blocks of Muggle London with some seriously charged magic. We'd better get out of here before the Ministry sends someone down here to investigate," she declared, tapping her foot impatiently while casting looks over her shoulder as though Aurors would be Apparating in at any second.

**O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O**

Fleur woke up slowly, her mind filled with the kind of haze that only a night of animal lust can induce. She felt warm all over, though she felt like she should be sore. Sighing, she moved back against the warm shape behind her, reveling in the feel of a strong masculine arm clutching her tighter. She knew it was Harry without even looking. Even if she didn't know the feel of him, the fact that he was sitting there, right in the front of her mind, would have told her that.

Things were different now, she knew. Her awareness of her mate had grown exponentially over what it had been the day before, and she had to assume that the Bonding was now complete. It had been an intense attachment before, but now it was… they were now one. One in almost every possible understanding of the word.

The thought warmed her even more than his touch and she relaxed against him, drawing comfort from him. As she lay there, she began to get aroused and mentally stroked the presence of him in her mind. She was rewarded with the feeling of something stiffening against her back causing her to bite her lip in anticipation. If the rituals for stamina had worked, she had a number of plans for his morning that did not involve standing up. Well, most of them didn't involve standing up.

Before things could go much further, however, there was a knock at the door. Fleur cursed whoever was interrupting her Harry-time, but slid out of the bed to answer it. As her feet touched the floor, she realized that she wasn't in the hotel room from the night before, but rather her room in the House of Black.

She shrugged and pulled on a silken robe before cracking the door enough to see who was there.

"Are you coming down to breakfast?" the newly revealed Hermione asked her.

Fleur smirked slightly and let the door open enough so that the bed could be seen from the door. "I think I'm going to sleep in, this morning," she said with a grin on her lips before closing the door back to the crack it was before.

"Oh!" Hermione said, having noticed the Harry-shaped lump in the bed. She blushed a little but then grinned. "I'll just cover for you, then. Don't do anything…" she paused to ponder for a moment, and then came to a decision, "okay, never mind. Do all those things."

Fleur closed the door, her smile growing, as she slipped back into bed with her mate. He was grinning at her, too, obviously having woken up while she was answering the door.

"So, care to explain how we moved from the hotel to here in the middle of the night?" she asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

"Well… you see… we kind of lit up downtown London with magic and made a long night for every Obliviator the Ministry has. We did a dozen Apparition jumps, several trips on the Underground, and three cabs after you passed out." Harry paused as he saw her smile at the memory of what caused such a great amount of trouble the previous night and the subsequent explanation of their escape. He just grinned while he stated the obvious result of their elaborate detour, "I think we got away, in the end."

Fleur snickered at the description of the events. "So, nothing important, then?" She laughed full on at that. "Do you suppose that is going to happen every time, now, or was it just the rituals?"

"Probably just the rituals… though I think we should really test that out, to be sure," he said, a predatory gleam in his eyes. She smiled back, wasting no time in capturing his lips with her own.

They didn't make breakfast. Or lunch, for that matter, but Hegwig did deliver a note around noon recommending they reapply the silencing charms on the room's walls, floor, and ceiling "SOON".

**O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O**

**Author's Notes: **This chapter is a little weaker than the others and a lot shorter. I covered a lot of ground, with only a little description, and ended it a little before I should have. The next chapter will cover the start of school… whenever it gets written. Having twin toddlers during the spring "everyone gets sick" season is rather taxing and plays a large role in my lack of updates this last month.

As of right now, this fic is going on a short hiatus. I have five straight weeks of travel coming for work (starting in a few days), and I know how exhausted I tend to be on the road so I'm not going to kid myself and think I'll be very productive. If I can get stuff done, I will, but it may well be June or July before chapter 8 sees the light of day. I will say that I fully intend to continue the tale and that this hiatus should only be fairly short as such things go.

I just want to thank everyone who reviews this story. You guys are great and give me a lot of stuff to work on and a lot of incentive to continue writing this.

Thanks goes to rejeimha for giving this a quick beta and making me flesh out several spots where it was lacking. I should have done a little more fleshing, but I wanted to get this out before my travel nightmare starts.


	8. NoticeApologies

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has read this story and I want to apologize to everyone who eagerly clicked on that message in their inbox thinking this was a new story. For the time being, I'm abandoning this story. If someone wants to continue it… well, drop me a line, but you could really do better writing your own.

There are a number of aspects of this story that I like, but there are more that I dislike. I was engaged in a project to revise the tale… but that didn't go as far as I would have liked.

I am not done writing, though, and I'm posting a chapter of a new story involving a weird Harry/Girl!Harry thing in a few moments. Just go through the profile link at the top to get there.

Again, thanks to everyone who has read this story and I'm sorry that I ended it like this. Also, thank you to the reviewers over the last year who I may not have responded to as my interest in this story tapered off.


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